Understanding the fundamental events that regulate animal production and reproduction is key to improving our management to manipulate the environment to increase efficiency in livestock animals. Small ruminants (goats and sheep) provide a powerful model system to investigate reproductive consequences due to the similarity between sheep and human pregnancy and their developmental trajectories during fetal and postnatal life.

My research is aimed at understanding how environmental factors and nutritional manipulation at different stages of the physiological process (conception, gestation, early lactation) can influence fetal growth, milk and colostrum production, birth weight and secondary consequences during postnatal development, the onset of puberty and reproductive efficiency of small ruminants (sheep and goats) reared in semi-arid rangelands. Importantly, it is to understand the role of different placental signals, metabolites, metabolic and reproductive hormones on muscle and fat tissue on the development and further reproductive activity when an insult has occurred.

1. Maternal efficiency
2. Fetal programming

1. Ruminant and Forage Production Systems