NMSU West Sheep Unit

10/13/2026

Congratulations to Jeff Dominguez on another NMSU West Sheep Unit publication. Check out his M.S. research which is published ahead of print in the Journal of Animal Science. Jeff has accepted a position at UTEP and will be putting his scientific training to work everyday in his new job. We continue to be proud of you, Jeff. Keep doing great things!

09/21/2026

It was all rainbows and rams at WSU this morning!

09/16/2026

Fall is approaching and that means getting ready for the breeding season at NMSU West Sheep Unit. We have completed our pre-breeding vaccinations and updated our ewe weights. Rams will be introduced in a little less than a month now!!! We are so grateful for our amazing crew of seasoned students and a few new faces that work together to make this all happen.

09/02/2026

Sheep are cool!

🐑 SHEEP’S WOOL COULD HELP REPAIR DAMAGED BONES

What if a material often treated as agricultural waste could help the body rebuild damaged bone?

Scientists at King’s College London extracted keratin, a structural protein found in sheep’s wool, and turned it into membranes designed to act as bone-regeneration scaffolds. The material supported healthy bone-cell growth in laboratory tests and helped stimulate new bone formation when implanted into rats with skull defects that would not normally heal on their own.

Interestingly, collagen produced more bone overall, but the keratin-based material produced bone that was more organized, structurally secure, and had better-aligned fibers, making it more closely resemble healthy natural bone. The keratin membranes also remained stable during healing and integrated with surrounding tissue.

♻️ Because wool is renewable and can be discarded as an agricultural byproduct, researchers say it could eventually provide a more sustainable material for regenerative medicine. However, the research is still at the animal-testing stage.

🤔 Could sheep’s wool-derived keratin one day become a practical way to repair damaged bones in humans?

09/02/2026

Once again, the generosity set in place by the Doc and Marilyn Hallford Endowed Travel Award has impacted numerous students in our Dept. We are so appreciative for this award which provides support for student travel to scientific meetings. A few of our student recipients had the pleasure to share lunch with Marilyn Hallford before the summer was over and express in person their gratitude. Thank you again, Marilyn. You and Doc continue to be a presence in the NMSU Animal and Range Sciences Department.

08/25/2026

Join us in honoring Dr. Campbell’s retirement during our Welcome Back BBQ tomorrow, August 26th at 5pm at the Student Learning Center!

There will be food, games, and a best dressed minion contest!

08/13/2026

Congratulations to Sara Gurule who has had a very productive summer. After a successful WSASAS meeting, she has also published an article in Translational Animal Science! Woo hoo!!! So proud.

07/29/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Jennifer Hurlbert who successfully defended her PhD research titled "Maternal vitamin and mineral supplementation during gestation in beef cattle and offspring developmental programming outcomes" on June 29, 2026 at NDSU. Dr. Hurlbert spent the Spring 2026 semester at NMSU gaining research skills in the Endo Lab and NMSU West Sheep Unit. It was so fun getting to work along side of her, and we are so proud to have had a small part in her grand journey. Good luck on all the adventures that await. You always have a home here in NM!

07/16/2026

NDSU Department of Animal Sciences is looking for a Research Specialist. Please see the link below for more information.

https://prd.hcm.ndus.edu/psc/recruit/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST_FL&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=1&JobOpeningId=2959447&PostingSeq=1

07/09/2026

Zoomies: activated. 🐑💨
Our weaned lambs are enjoying their own big space!