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"...where we're NUTS about our Alpacas!" is a byline that tells you about
our passion, not our state of mind as we go about
building what we believe to be
a fine model of a vibrant Alpaca ranch.
Where it all began...
The country dream began in 1985 when Charles & Debbie made a down payment on
the land now know to us as Aubrey Oaks. 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, and our dream of living in the
country began a long pathway with a number of detours. But we
finally made
it when we began planning our dream home in early 2000. The foundation was
poured 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.
Our Alpaca dream began in February of 2009 when Debbie read a newspaper
article about an Alpaca ranch in North Central Texas,
and the people that raised
these magical creatures. 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 while the fire blazed beneath our home's mantle 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 which would become our ranch, it was time to call,
visit and
analyze the endeavors of other successful Alpaca ranchers.
Company origins...
We're smallish as ranches go—just over 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.
After all. we didn't have money to burn. 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.
We determined that we would invest in four, no—make that six Alpacas the
first year, so that 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. Gaining knowledge from others
in this industry we felt was not only enjoyable, but essential to our plans
for success! 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.
December, 2010 & March, 2011 brought our first crias—and what marvelous
ones they are!
We've
added two more—the one just above is Rose, with a fifth on the way. You will need to come see with your own eyes and touch
the fiber that we are striving to produce here at Aubrey Oaks Alpaca Ranch!
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Where we are today...
We feel that we have progressed in a timely, yet prudent manner.
There are now four carefully constructed pens that guard our investments.
With our first isolation pen as the latest addition to our master plan—and
yet another pen in the works, we are ensuring the biosecurity of our existing pens
and herd.
 We've
built three shelters that are functional for both Alpacas & humans, yet
pleasant to the eye. 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. Additions were made in the summer of
2011, and a newer isolation pen was begun in 2011. The shed
for this pen was finished in early 2012.
 Abe,
our Great Pyrenees, is a mature and trained deterrent to predators both
large & small. He's a loving animal to humans, but we have seen
evidence first hand that he knows his job is protection and he has already
performed admirably! So he
 deserves
the first class home that we provided—an insulated two room doghouse
complete with his own "patio!"
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We are working on getting our slideshow returned to our website. It
takes you through our first moments to some detailed progress pictures...
We're sure you will enjoy them! We hope to have them up soon! In the
meantime, please enjoy some candid shots from around our ranch, and at our
shows...
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Eyes for the future...
Breeding for outstanding fiber fineness while
maintaining density is our stated goal. Desirous of broadening our
herd's genealogy, we have been blessed to have a resplendent True Black
Alpaca whose fleece was a Blue Ribbon winner in the 2007 TxOLAN Level IV
show:
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Snowmass Nova's Pluro. |
And our finest fleece Herdsire
that is still under 20 microns:
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Reiling's Royal Flush's
Electricity |
who also sports Snowmass
heritage. He placed second in his class at the very competitive Mid-America Alpaca show
in Topeka, KS in October, 2009.
Our foundation herd is solid
with four dams consistently breeding to high end sires:
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Premier's Prestigious Cameo |
who is one of the limited number
of dams that was bred to the late Snowmass Porteus who's sire was
Snowmass XXXtreme. She has a new cria, Rose, who's sire is Snowmass Matrix Madness;
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Reiling's Midnight Medina |
who is bred to Tierra's Creed
of Tierra Prometida;
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Lilly's Daisy |
is an open dam after bringing
three nice crias, with Conni being the last here at Aubrey Oaks;
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And our true black WHR
Sweetpea Midnight. |
She has had her first cria by our
own true black Snowmass Nova's Pluro. They produced an exciting
male with a true black blanket who sports a striking white tuxedo and black
eyeglasses. He's appropriately named Midnight Masked Phantom!
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Our other most recent additions
are Porteus' Perfect Cadence (Cady), an open dam who is our blue
ribbon winner at TxOLAN, & |
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Pluro's Premier Concerto (Conni), |
an friendly yearling with color &
fineness that dazzle
the eye!
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Aubrey Oaks Midnight Masked Phantom
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is our first male cria, and is now a
juvenile herd member.
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Aubrey Oaks Madness
Cameorose Waltz and Aubrey Oaks Creed's Joyous Noëlle are our
latest two amazing crias. |
With four new breedings planned,
building a herd that will be beautiful,
productive and competitive market products is our goal as the months pass.
We're carefully researching the
barn that will need to be built as our herd grows. It will need to be
large enough to handle the 30+ Alpacas that is our aspiration. And
attending a reasonable number of Alpaca shows, continuing our education into
the industry, all the while as we sell fine Alpaca products imported from
Peru are activities that portend an active lifestyle.
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One moment we're working on a
website, and the next we're outside filling water pails, scooping poop, filling
hay buckets, feeding hungry Alpacas and continuing to gain a friendly
familiarity with some of God's most beautiful creatures. Then we're
sending in fiber samples, planning the shows we will be attending, planning our
breeding choices, sending out emails about our products, updating our
Facebook page and
determining our marketing opportunities for the upcoming season. All in
all, we have tremendously enjoyed our experiences thus far, and look forward to
a bright future in an industry that has much upward growth potential!
Our Professional Associations are:
Our Memberships:
Our Marketing Partners:
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