“…where we’re NUTS about our Alpacas!” is a byline that tells you about us and our passion to be the best in our business, not our state of mind.
First…
Read our CODE OF ETHICS!
Where it all began…
The country dream began in 1985 when Charles & Debbie made a down payment on our land. We had lived in the city all of our lives, but Debbie’s parents had always owned land in the country. And that dream became ours when Debbie’s father passed. Everyone knew him as Dick, but his given name was Aubrey Jr. Darden. A small inheritance from his estate provided that initial down payment. Our dream of living in the country began had begun!
We finally made it happen when we began planning our dream home in early 2000. We poured the foundation in August of 2001, and we finally moved into our new home in March of 2002. Our homestead was named Aubrey Oaks to honor Dick’s longstanding desire to live in the country along with the magnificent native Post & Black Jack oaks that dot our pasture.
And then we glimpsed Alpacas…
Our Alpaca dream began in February of 2009 when Debbie read a newspaper article about an Alpaca ranch in North Central Texas. We knew that we couldn’t raise cattle on such small acreage, nor were we horse people. After all, we’re from the city with little prior experience with livestock.
So the Alpaca story began to burn in Debbie’s heart on that cold February Sunday. We did our due diligence and investigated the Alpaca industry, finding out that it fit our desire for not only a lifestyle, but also for the resources we already had in place. After doing all that we could here at our country home, we began to call, visit and analyze the endeavors of other successful Alpaca ranchers.
About Us — Company origins…
We’re smallish as ranches go, which is a benefit for us and Alpacas. We have about 6 acres of rolling terrain that is dotted with just enough trees to provide shade, and enough native pasture for the light grazing of these gentle creatures. After visiting a number of ranches, researching the internet and books on the subject, we put our dreams to the test by planning our initial animal pens & sheds.
All the while, we were looking at available Alpacas. It’s not like going to Home Depot and buying a package of seeds to plant a victory garden. We considered our situation and determined the best way to finance our endeavor with careful, cautious steps. It took planning, wisdom, and a fair amount of God’s providence to make our initial herd selections.
Getting the ranch started…
We determined that we would invest in six Alpacas the first year. This way our ranch would have the ability to quickly grow and provide us both enjoyment and the potential for a fair return. We picked out some beautiful animals and set about making their arrival here at Aubrey Oaks come to a reality.
Having a daughter that is a CPA was advantageous, but we still took time to visit ranch seminars throughout our state. Essential to our plans for success is gaining knowledge from others in this industry. Definitely not a hobby—we chose this avenue of adventure for the long haul! And as each day passed, we gained confirmation of our plans.
Our first successes…
December, 2010 & March, 2011 brought our first crias—and what marvelous ones they were! Cady, our first, is show above.
We added two more—the one just above is Rose, with many more that followed. You should come touch the fiber that we are producing here at Aubrey Oaks Alpaca Ranch!
Where we are today…
We feel that we have progressed in a timely, yet prudent manner. There are now six carefully constructed pens that guard our investments. An isolation pen adds to the biosecurity of our existing pens and herd.
We’ve built three shelters that are functional for both Alpacas & humans. We’ve added cooling towers to help our herd survive the intense summer heat.
Two have enclosed storage areas to keep our hay, feed, tack & supplies out of the elements. Electrical power & water have been brought to our sheds to ensure our animals a ready supply of water & fans to keep them cool. We made additions in the summer of 2011. We added the newer isolation pen in 2011 and the shed in early 2012. Most recently we added expanded pastures in 2016. Our first two run-in sheds were doubled in size in early 2019 providing more protection for our growing herds.
Our Great Pyrenees through the years have been mature and trained deterrents to predators both large & small. They have been loving animal to humans. We have seen evidence first hand that they know their job is protection!
They deserve the first class home that we provided—an insulated two room doghouse!
Debbie is now a President!
Charles serves a Board & Manages Websites
Debbie Ashley was re-elected to the Alpacas of Oklahoma Board and agreed to serve as President during the January 2022 quarterly meeting in Newcastle OK. She will be serving another 3 year term as the A-OK President. Her 3 year term serving as the TXOLAN Board Secretary expired in February 2019 after the TXOLAN Sweetheart Spectacular Alpaca Show in Ft. Worth.
Charles served on the TXOLAN Board as a member at Large for the 2020-2021 season. He is also the Alpacas of Oklahoma Webmaster, with ancillary duties on the group’s Facebook Page and Group.
As leaders in the Alpaca industry we know the importance of service, which includes working with and for our clients. The day after Debbie was chosen to serve the A-OK Association, she and Charles were outside doing herd health and providing vital mentoring to two of our clients who had driven almost 100 miles to hone their skills.
Eyes for the future…Our fleece goal is breeding for outstanding fiber fineness, beautiful crimp and superb structure while maintaining density. Our various herdsires help in that regard. A beautiful white herdsire with a tremendous Snowmass heritage:
We are truly excited as we have a banner winning Herdsire—IRISH MEADOWS PERUVIAN FLASHPOINT. His influence on our ranch has already resulted in a Color Championship for his offspring, Stormy Weather of Aubrey Oaks. Flash has a color championship, a reserve color banner and quite a few blue ribbons to boot!
Moonraker is very fine fleeced at 15.9 micron as a 9 month old with SD 3.2, CV 20.2%, CF 100%. His fleece is dense and bright with high organization. He was the 2015 White Male Color Champion at TXOLAN, and followed that up the next year with the Reserve Color Champion in 2016. He spends April through September here at Aubrey Oaks Alpacas. We are so excited! Our foundation dams are solid with consistent breedings to high end sires. We’ve had great success in selling a number of Alpacas.
These two moderns are a tremendous option for those interested in the Cadillac of greys. We absolutely adore this color. Flash is a Silver Grey while his offspring, Storm, is a Rose Grey. Both are Color Champions with almost 20 blue ribbons between them. What else we discovered about us…Falling in love with Alpacas led to the joys of selling excellent products made from their exquisite fiber. We’ve greatly expanded our number of events that we attend through the years. Our clientele has grown to love and expect us at these events. Our website has brought us sales from all over the United States. We’ve expanded our product display by making a selection seasonally available at Kaboodles in Denison!  Our plan has always been to design and implement a strategy that provides for us into our retirement years. Charles is recently retired is now here at the Ranch full time. Debbie joined him in retirement in 2020. We are excited to see that our plan is successfully growing and proving to be prosperous and enjoyable. We both trust that you will join us—whether it is by wearing garments made from our Texas Alpaca Yarn, a garment imported from Peru, or by considering the value of owing & raising Alpacas. You can learn more about Alpacas at The Alpaca Owners Association. Come See Us!
Why we enjoy the Alpaca lifestyle…Enjoy just a few candid shots from around our ranch, and at our shows…  
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