D2-Uncaster Farming Saturday, July 19,1986
Central Cove FFA Tops Blair-Bedford Market Hog Show
BY BETSY STITT
Blair County Correipondent
LEAMERSVILLE - A Central
Cove FFA’er captured top honors
at the area FFA market hog sale
July 7 with his homebred mixed
'breed entry.
Eric Blattenberger of Mar
tinsburg exhibited the show's
Snyder Co. Hog Producers Hold Sole
BEAVERTOWN - Buyers from
seven states and Canada took
home swine from the annual
summer sale held by Brooks End
Farm and Par Kay Farms of
Beavertown on June 27.
The sale’s top animal was a
Yorkshire bred gilt sold to Irvin
Zimmerman of Swarthmore for
$675. The top selling Yorkshire
boar went for $625 to Bill Johnson
of Clarks Hill, Indiana. The top bid
for a Landrace bred gilt was $430
offered by Alvin Shaffer of
Dalmatia, and the sale’s top
Keystone Supreme Champs
Supreme Champion Ram honors at the Keystone Stud Ram
and Ewe Show, held July 11 and 12 at State College, went to
Peter D. Ambra (right) of Skowhegan, Me. This Shropshire
spring ram lamb sold to David Harpster, Boalsburg.
Robert C. Elander, (right) Saugerties, N.Y., captured the
Supreme Champion Ewe title at the Keystone Stud Ram and
Ewe Show. Cheryl Burrows, Ava, N.Y., later purchased this
Oxford ewe.
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grand champion at Farmer’s
Livestock Market. Topping entries
from peers in Blair and Bedford
counties, his heavyweight hog
weighed in at 286 pounds and
commanded a price of $4 per
pound. Shaw Packing of Newry
purchased it for $1,064.
Landrace boar went to Bruce
Esham, Millsboro, Delaware, for
$440,
Average sale prices were as
follows: Yorkshire bred gilts, 32
head, $347; Yorkshire boars, 28
head, 364; Landrace bred gilts, 28
head, $335; Landrace boars, 5
head, $348; commercial open gUts,
62 head, $lB4.
The sale’s 157 head sold for
$43,860, with 93 head of purebred
boars and gilts averaging $350.
Auctioneer for the sale was Mike
Jones, West Point, Georgia.
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Brian Hinton, also of Central
Cove Chapter, showed the reserve
grand champion. Brian’s 252-
pound hog was second in the
heavyweight class and sold for
$2.50 per pound. Hatfield Packing
paid $630 for the reserve.
Third place overall went to a hog
owned by Carol Anderson of the
Bedford Chapter. Hatfield Packing
paid $1.40 a pound for the 222-
pound hog, for a total of $310.80.
Hatfield also purchased the
fourth place overall pig for $297.60.
Gina Hall of the Northern Bedford
Chapter exhibited the 248-pounder,
which sold for $1.20 per pound.
Hollidaysburg Trust bought
Kevin Rhodes’ 204-pound hog for
$255. The Central Cove Chapter
member’s hog commanded a price
of $1.25 per pound.
Ezra Good of Hatfield Packing
judged the 180 market hogs, which
had an average weight of 219
pounds.
Auctioneer was Eugene Gontis.
Sale average was $67.94 per
hundredweight including cham
pions, and $64.49 without cham
pions.
Other organizations helping with
the show and sale were: Mar
tinsburg Boosters, ribbons;
Curryville Agway, grand cham
pion trophy; Keystone Feed and
Flour, reserve champion trophy;
and Farmer’s Livestock Market,
who donated facilities and com-
Do Teaser Rams Really Work?
Ram selection, flushing ewes,
breeding period, and use of teaser
rams are some important
decisions that can influence flock
productivity. To realize the ad
vantages of all these factors it is
also important that plans begin
well in advance of the breeding
season. The following discussion
reports on some recent work using
teaser rams and how the practice
can influence lambing per
formance.
Research shows that
pheromones produced by the ram
stimulate the advancement of the
breeding season by two to three
weeks and can synchronize the
ewes. Pheromones are specialized
hormones, which are released by
the ram and smelled by the ewe. In
addition to the prepuce gland, the
pheromones are found in the wool
and wax that accumulates around
the ram’s eyes. Research has also
shown that visual or physical
contact with the ram is not
necessary to stimulate the ewes.
Some New Zealand work reported
that ram’s wool rubbed on the
muzzle of a group of ewes three
times a day stimulated estrus in 48
percent of the ewes, compared to
SO percent that responded when
rams were physically placed with
them.
Some recent work at the
University of California clearly
showed that teaser rams can be
effectively used to synchronize
ewes. One group was exposed to
teaser rams before breeding, while
the second group was isolated from
rams until breeding started on
August Ist. Forty-four percent of
mission to the Blair-Bedford- 3. Dale Pheasant.
Fulton FFA Activities Fund. Medium Lightweight
Chapters represented were: (220-232 pounds)
Tyrone, Bellwood, Antis, 1. Carol Anderson, 2. Randy
Williamsburg, Central Cove, Rhodes, 3. Brad Diehl.
Everett, Bedford, Northern Medium Heavyweight
Bedford, Chestnut Ridge and (238-252 pounds)
Bedford. 1. Gina Hall, 2. Andy Greenleaf, 3.
Following are the top three Mikeßurket.
placings in each class. Heavyweight
Lightweight (254-286 pounds)
(172-218 pounds) 1. Eric Blattenberger, 2. Brian
1. Kevin Rhodes, 2. Lamar Keith, Hinton, 3. Carol Frederick.
- (rigl .
Good of Hatfield Packing for $2.50 a pound
the ewes exposed to teaser rams
lambed in the first seven days of
lambing, while only 11 percent of
the ewes that had not been exposed
to teaser rams lambed during the
same period. Similar results have
been observed at the University of
Wyoming when teaser rams were
placed with the ewes three weeks
prior to breeding. Eighty-four
percent of the flock lambed during
the first 17 days of lambing, with
the vast majority of those ewes
lambing within a week.
Some New Zealand work also
reports a possible ram breed ef
fect. When Dorset rams were used
as teasers, 67 percent of the ewes
were bred during the first two
weeks of their breeding season,
compared to 34 percent when
Romney rams were used as
teasers. However, a California
trial using Dorset and Suffolk rams
as teasers found no significant
difference in the ram’s ability to
stimulate the ewe’s onset of estrus
during the first week of May.
Just how ram pheromones
stimulate ewes is unknown, but it
is known that within 10 minutes of
the introduction of the ram or the
pheromone bearing material, ewes
that are stimulated will start
secreting hormones from their
pituitary glands.
These hormones cause the ewe to
ovulate withion three days. Hiis
ovulation is not accompanied by
behavorial estrus and therefore is
referred to as a “silent heat.”
Upon ovulation, a corpus luteum
(CL) forms on the ovary at the
point where the egg or ovum was
ovulated. Approximately 30 to 40
percent of the time, the CL func-
tions for a normal period of time.
In this case, the ewe will exhibit a
normal behavorial estrus in 18 to 20
days after the teaser ram was first
placed in with the ewes. However,
in the remaining 60 to 70 percent of
the ewes, the CL will regress
prematurely; in which case, the
ewe will have a second ovulation
within six to seven days after the
teaser ram was introduced to the
ewes. This ovulation is also ac
companied with a “silent heat.”
The CL that forms as a result of
this second ovulation regresses
normally and the ewe will have a
normal behavioral estrus within 16
to 18 days, at which time the ewe
can be bred. In other words, in the
case of a prematurely regressing
CL, the first behavioral estrus will
occur 22 to 24 days after the teaser
ram is introduced to the ewes.
Therefore, there will be two peaks
in behavioral estrus following the
use of a teaser ram: the first wil
take place 18 to 19 days after the
ram was introduced, in the case of
the normal regressing CL, and the
second will take place 23 to 24 days
after ram introduction. This
results in the ewes being syn
chronized over a six to seven day
period.
It is important to note that ewes
must be completely isolated from
rams for about two months before
introduction, of the teaser rams, to
receive stimulation from the ram’s
pheromones. It is also suggested
that rams be kept a half mile from
the ewes to prevent the ewes from
picking up the ram scent during
this period.
Intact or vasectomized rams can
be used to stimulate ewes. A sturdy
fence or panels between the ewes
and an intact ram can function
well during the teasing period,
whereas the vasectomized ram
can run with the ewes.
Circleville Farm Tour August 2
Pasture rotation, principles of
pasture establishment, types of
sheep forage crops, fencing
systems, basic sheep handling and
lambing facilities wil be viewed
and discussed by PSU faculty at
the Circleville Farm. This tour is
in conjunction with the upcoming
Performance Ram Lamb Sale
scheduled for 4:00 p.m., August 2,
at the Meat Animal Evaluation
Center, PSU.
A lunch will be served at 12:00
p.m. at the Ag Arena for all per
sons wanting to participate in the
Farm Tour. The tour group will
leave from the Ag Arena at 1:00
p.m. and return by 2; 30 p.m.