D2-Lancaster Farming Saturday, November 15,1986
Producing Quality Wool Is Sheer Pleasure For Platts
BY GINGER SECRIST MYERS
Adams Co. Correspondent
GETTYSBURG - You can’t pull
the wool over Charles and Barbara
Platt's eyes. If you do, they’re sure
to scrutinize it and then tell you its
quality. Charles and Barbara
(Bobbie) Platt, Belmont Ridge
Farm, located just north of Get
tysburg, know what good wool is
and how to produce a champion
fleece. This is evidenced by their
numerous show wins and
highlighted by their most recent
success. The Platts captured both
the coveted grand champion fleece
trophy and the champion purebred
farm flock fleece awards last
month at the Keystone In
ternational Livestock Exposition
in Harrisburg. They also exhibited
the champion and reserve
champion fleeces at the York
Interstate Fair Wool Show.
Bobbie acknowledged that the
grand champion fleece award was
particularly gratifying for two
reasons. First, the purebred
Merino ram, Thunderbolt, that
produced the fleece from his May
shearing, represents their own
breeding on both sides of his
pedigree. And second, Thun
derbolt’s sire, Super Ram, also
owned by the Platts, won this same
distinction at the Keystone in 1983.
Super Ram is also the sire of the
Platt’s well campaigned purebred
Merino ewe, Blossom, who was
champion ewe at the 1985 Farm
Show, the Shippensburg Fair, York
Fair and at the Keystone In
ternational Livestock Expo that
same year. KILE was the largest
Merino show in the county in 1985.
Neither Charles nor Barbara
grew up counting sheep. They met
as graduate students at Ohio State
University while both pursuing
advanced degrees in research
psychology. They moved to the
Gettysburg area in 1957 when
Charles accepted a teaching
position on the Gettysburg College
faculty having acquired a small
farm just north of town, the Platts
contacted the Adams County
Extension Service for ideas on how
to best utilize their acreage. Agent
Jared Tyson suggested they try
either beef or sheep.
The Platts chose sheep and in
1976 they purchased their first
Shropshire ewes. A year later
some Merinos were added. The
Platts chose these two breeds on
the advice of specialists at Ohio
State University. Explains Bobbie,
“For money-m to money-out, you
can’t beat a Shropshire x Merino
cross. The Merinos are year-round
breeders and will cross well with
the Shrops for today’s market. It’s
an excellent cross for commercial
'*■ * **. "k
Barbara Platt and Thunderbolt, the Platt’s homebred
Merino ram that produced the grand champion fleece at the
Keystone International this year.
lamb producers.”
Although they have tried this
type of crossbreeding foi
freezerlambs, the Platts keep very
strict purebred herds in both
breeds for show purposes. They
now run 98 breeding sheep on their
28 acres.
The Platts prize their Merinos
for their heavy fleece and high
quality wool. Bobbie noted that the
production of a champion fleece is
the combination of good genetics
paired with meticulous
management.
Using Thunderbolt’s champion
fleece as a reference, Bobbie
pointed out that a good fleece must
have a fine fiber texture, to make it
soft ; lots of crimp, for fiber length;
it must be strong, to withstand
spinning and processing, and it
must have good color. Platt ex
plained that sheep who have
worms or have suffered from a
high fever produce wool fibers that
can be easily broken when stret
ched. It takes healthy sheep to
produce strong wocl fibers.
Also, during show season the
Platts take great care not to let
their Merinos get rained on.
Bobbie explained that the lanolin
layer on the top of their fleece
protects it from dirt and other
foreign material that might work
down into the fleece. If the fleece
gets wet, the lanolin layer will
crack and bunch, allowing dirt and
stains to mar the fleece and to
change the quality of the fiber.
Charles and Bobbie have gained
their expertise from years of
reading and studying sheep ar
ticles, attending educational
programs, from seeking out
counsel from the vet and other
respected breeders, and from
spending time on the show circuit.
While the Platts enjoy showing
for the camoradene with other
breeders, Bobbie does lament the
change in exhibitors’ attitudes in
the last few years. She believes
strongly that, "What is going on in
the showring has little to do with
what’s going on in the sheep in
dustry today Showing has taken
on a ‘win at all cost’ attitude, and,
because of this emphasis on win,
win, win, showing is beginning to
do more harm than good for the
industry ”
However, the Platts aren’t ready
to pack away their tack boxes y et
While planning to do fewer shows
than in the past, they still relish
their annual visits with show
friends and those times when their
own homebred stock tops the other
competition Producing that
champion fleece, and doing it their
way, is a challenge the Platts will
always welcome
&
Charles Platt feeds his fl
phasize that sheep require as much management as other livestock
The Selenium Connection
The old adage, “If a little bit is
good, more is better,” certainly
lacks credence when treating a
selenium deficiency problem. With
approved practical methods of
supplementing rations with
selenium and vitamin E, and with
prescribed use of selenium
vitamin E mjectables available,
we have the tools to prevent white
muscle disease However we
continue to receive reports of lamb
losses Some losses due to
deficiency of selenium-vitamin E,
some following injections of the
prescription, and other reports of
lame, poor-doing lambs following
intramuscular injections
Even though much is still
unknown as to how they function it
is well established that vitamin E
and selenium are required
nutrients which prevent white
muscle disease. It appears the
disease may be caused by a
deficiency of either nutrient, or
both, and each has a sparing effect
on the other.
Response to
Selenium Supplements
Several factors influence the
need for or the toxicity of selenium
supplements. Young lambs, prior
to consuming much creep feed,
appear to be more susceptible to a
deficiency and to toxicity
than older sheep. Also, tissues of
twin lambs contain about one-half
as much selenium at birth as the
tissues of single lambs Only small
amounts of selenium are tran
sported across the placenta to the
fetus Selenium appears to be more
efficiently transported across the
mammary gland than across the
placenta Jhereloie the newborn
lamb is p> unai ih dependent on its
dam s milk foi selenium and
vitamin E
It has been shown dso that
animals deficient in selenium and
10^
1. .
Flock
Forum
by
Clair Engle
Penn State Extension Sheep Specialist
vitamin E are more susceptible to
selenium poisoning. Selenium
deficient sheep absorb more
selenium than sheep that have had
adequate selenium in their ration.
The absorption of selenium from
injections is approximately twice
as much as from oral doses. These
absorption differences could very
well be reasons why losses have
been reported as lambs were being
treated to prevent the disease.
Free-choicing a trace mineral salt
mix with 30 ppm selenium seems to
provide adequate selenium plasma
levels in the ewe and reduces the
chances of selenium toxicosis due
to occasional treatments.
Another interesting result is that
sheep on low-protein diets (less
than 7 percent), absorb more
selenium from their feed than
sheep on higher protein rations.
Therefore, sheep (ewes) main
tained on a recommended protein
level (11 to 14 percent) are less
susceptible to selenium toxicosis.
Deficiency or
Toxicity?
The symptoms of acute selenium
toxicosis closely resemble those of
white muscle disease due to a
vitamin E-selenium deficiency
These include weakness, stiffness
(usually hind leg or legs), difficult
breathing, and a reluctance to
stand to nurse. A few lambs die
quickly while others hang on and
LIVESTOCK
m XIAT
eventually pass on from a
respiratory infection. In necropsy,
white necrotic lesions can usually
be observed in heart, diaphragm
and skeletal muscle, and in
prolonged cases excess fluid is
generally found in the lung tissue.
Most cases of acute toxicosis in
lambs have occurred as a result of
accidentally, or in some instances,
purposely injecting excessive
amounts of selenium. Available
selenium-vitamin E injectables
vary in the concentration of
selenium. If the producer injects
1.0 ml of the concentrated product,
the lamb would receive 5.0 mg of
selenium. It is very important to
double check the concentration of
selenium in the product to be used
and never inject newborn lambs
with more than 1.0 mg of selenium
Prior to the approval of adding
selenium to the ration, injectable
selenium-vitamin E was the most
common method used to prevent
white muscle disease. Many
producers injected ewes the last
two weeks of pregnancy, the lamb
in the lambing pen and again 2 to 3
weeks later. How many of you now
include selenium in the ration and
mineral mix and still continue the
injection sequence' If so. you just
might be seeing selenium toxicity
symptoms rather than a deficiency
problem Kemembei there is not
much difference
All things normal nuti itionalh,
experimental data indicates that
ewes free-choiced a trace mineral
salt containing 30 ppm selenium
will usually maintain an adequate
level of plasma selenium and will
produce milk with sufficient
selenium Creep rations can be
fortified by adding 1 1 pound of the
recommended selenium salt mix
(30 ppm) to 100 pounds of creep
ration. This will bring the ration
selenium level up to 0.1 ppm.
Taking the mentioned in
formation in to consideration, it
appears the most practical and
economical method for supplying
selenium is through a free-choice
trace mineral salt mix with 30 ppm
of selenium in conjunction with
v itamin E supplements
Injection
Recommendations
Instructions foi selenium-
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