ABOUT
MapleWind Caprines is a small dairy goat herd located in Dawn, Missouri that is owned and operated by Laura Warren-Hughes and her three daughters; Elizabeth, Madelyn and Caroline Warren.
While the weather in northwest Missouri may be unpredictable at times, ridiculously cold in the winter and brutally hot in the summer, the photo to the left shows just why we consider our home to be a little patch of heaven. We live for our breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, rolling hills, and loving animals… just three things that make chore time a little more bearable.
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MapleWind may be small, but we have big goals for our tiny herd. We are committed to raising and selling high-quality French Alpines that will be strong and productive animals regardless of where they find themselves across the country. We are continuously working to improve our herd so that MapleWind does will stand out both in the show ring and in the barn.
"How are we going to achieve these goals?" you might ask. Below you'll find our vision and mission statements and along with some of the strategies that we have implemented to achieve those goals. These statements are broad and lofty... but they are supposed to be. This is what keeps us working to better ourselves and our animals.
VISION
Alpines
“To breed high-quality French Alpines that are nationally competitive.”
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MISSION
“To better promote the dairy goat industry by producing productive does, quality genetics, and better communicating our story, methods, and intentions to the modern consumer and fellow breeders.”
STRATEGIES
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DHIR testing
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Annual CAE testing
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Linear Appraisal
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DNA testing
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Exhibit animals both at local and national shows to better compare quality against the breed standard.
BRIEF HISTORY OF MAPLEWIND
Back in 1979, Laura found herself immersed in the Indiana dairy goat industry after begging her father for a horse and receiving a baby Nubian wether, named Moses, instead. While Moses made for a great pet, she quickly moved on to purchasing her first purebred Nubian doe from Joe Pilotte from the Wea herd in Lafayette, IN.
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She began her journey with ADGA by exhibiting at sanctioned shows, attending ADGA’s National Convention, earning her Apprentice judge’s license and being selected as the 1988 ADGA Youth Representative. Serving as the ADGA Youth Representative and traveling the country as a judge helped Laura make connections and friendships with other breeders that introduced her to her love of the Alpine breed.
Laura found herself at the 1989 ADGA National Show where she met her future husband Scott Warren, whom she married in 1991. A year later, she had the opportunity to work for Willow Run in Huber Heights, Ohio. While there, she was able to bring her first Alpine doe, Maple-Glen Classic’s Chelois whom had been sold to her by the Swayne’s. After the birth of her first son, Laura sold Chelois to the Willow Run herd, where she knew she would be managed to her fullest potential, and moved to Missouri to focus on her family.
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Fast forward a few years, the Warren family had expanded to include one son and three daughters that were involved in showing boer goats. Unfortunately, Scott passed away in 2008 and left our family looking for something to bring them closer together once again. Laura decided to venture back into the dairy goat industry after spending years telling the family about the industry that quite literally brought our family together.
Our herd began in 2009 with the purchase of Angel-Prairie Pharoah Fiction from Scott and Marcia Jura, a baby buck (Angel-Prairie Revive Klassic) and two does from the Sycamore-Acres herd. All three girls quickly fell in love with the dairy goats and our journey started.
Over time, our herd has grown but almost all of our animals trace back to Fiction. We were so lucky to start off with her and the hole that she left in our herd will never be filled. Memories of Fiction and showing those first few years will always be cherished dearly.
The rest, you can say, is history!
RESERVING A MAPLEWIND KID
We are thrilled that you're interested in purchasing stock from us! A $100 deposit will secure the buck kid of your choice; however, we do not accept deposits on doe kids. If the buck kid you select is not born or does not meet our quality standards, we may offer a refund, allow you to transfer the deposit to another kid, or hold it for the following year.
For doe kids, we maintain a list of interested buyers and will contact individuals in the order of interest once all kidding has been completed. If you're interested in a doeling, please let us know, and we'll add you to the list. If you’re looking for a doeling from a specific breeding, be sure to share that with us. We typically sell 4-5 milkers per year, some of which are show quality, while others are suitable for production homes.
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We highly recommend that potential buyers of both does and bucks make a first and second choice. Full payment is required before any kids are shipped or leave our farm. Buyers are also responsible for any health testing or certificates (required for out-of-state buyers) and for providing a shipping crate if needed. We reserve the right to retain any kid for herd replacement purposes.
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Once a kid is born, healthy, and free of defects, there are no refunds on canceled orders. After being notified of the birth of your kid, we ask that you promptly arrange to pick up your kid or arrange transport. We prefer to keep and raise kids until they are 3 weeks old to evaluate both the kid and the dam, dis-bud, administer initial vaccines, and ensure they are off to a healthy start before they leave the farm. Kids should be picked up between 3-6 weeks of age.
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We handle the registration and will transfer the kids into the owner's name at the time of registration to expedite the process of obtaining papers. Please know your ADGA number so we can register the kid at time of pick up or transport. We will also take care of submitting DNA for all buck kids sold. At the time of pick up, we will check tattoos, teats and testicles (if applicable) together with you, and will also pull hair for DNA on buck kids, with you observing the process so you can feel confident that we have submitted the correct hair sample for your buck kid. Please let us know if you have any questions.
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We can ship kids via air (they will be flown out of Kansas City International) if that is desired; the buyer will assume all costs of air transport, kennel, health certificates, and a $115 mileage surcharge (it is 165 miles round trip from the farm to the airport). We have also used ground transport and prefer to use this whenever possible. The buyer is responsible for the cost of any health certificates required by transporters. If you wish to reserve an animal, you will need to arrange your own transport and have a plan in place before making the reservation. We can recommend transporters we’ve worked with in the past or assist if you plan to make a trip to our farm. There is also a possibility of limited transport if we are attending a show in your area.
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Our kids are all raised on pooled milk, from our CAE negative herd that is tested before kidding season. We feel there are lots of advantages to raising kids on whole milk and this has been successful for us from the beginning. Our whole herd is CAE tested annually and a copy of test results can be provided if requested. We do not have CL or Johne's in our herd and are very careful in bringing in new animals (all are tested for CL, Johnes and CAE before entering the herd).