Micheal W. Salisbury, Ph.D.

Department of Agriculture
ASU Station #10888
San Angelo, Texas 76909
Voice: (325) 942-2029 ext. 282
Fax: (325) 942-2183
Email: mike.salisbury@angelo.edu

Classes

Animal Science 2242 -- Livestock Practicum

Livestock Practicum is a class designed for students that have limited experience working with livestock species.  The class focuses on understanding animal behavior and how this impacts handling livestock.  Students are expected to learn how animal and human interactions impact how to safely handle livestock for both the animal and humans.  We also focus a great deal on proper facility design and hauling livestock.

Animal Science 3443 -- Genetics of Livestock Improvement (Taught every Spring Semester)

Genetics of Livestock Improvement is a class designed to teach the students the basics of animal genetics.  The bulk of the class is focused around animal breeding information.  The class begins with a basic description of genetics and how it is associated with livestock production.  The remainder of the class discusses the principles of inheritance and how to manage the traits that are important to livestock production.  An in-depth discussion will cover the principles of selection and the environmental factors that influence selection.  Discussions will also cover how to manage these factors and how to manage selection to fit these factors.  Mating systems comprise a large part of the concepts with animal breeding and this class will devote a substantial amount of time to understanding mating systems how they work.  Students will also be expected to understand the basic calculations associated with livestock genetics including understanding how to determine gene, genotypic and phenotypic frequencies.  Students will also learn how to determine heritabilities, correlation coefficients, inbreeding coefficients and basic statistical calculation associated with the information.  In addition, animal breeding is making some remarkable advances technologically and we will spend the last few lectures discussing how these work and influence animal breeding today and they have increased the rate of genetic improvement in livestock production systems.  This class has a lab that meets once per week to be used during the problem solving sections of the class and to demonstrate how the theories and principles discussed in class actually work.

Animal Science 4248 – Reproduction Techniques (Taught every Spring semester)

Reproduction Techniques is a course designed to teach the students how to use the latest methods in reproductive management.  Students must have completed Animal Science 4344  (Animal Reproduction) prior to enrolling in this course.  Artificial insemination is the main technique that is covered in class.  Students are expected to become proficient in AI in cattle and have the basic understanding of AI in sheep and goats.  Sheep and goat AI will cover both laparoscopic and trans-cervical techniques.  Students are also expected to become proficient at pregnancy determination in cattle by the palpation technique and sheep using the ultrasound machine.  Breeding soundness evaluation of males (bull, rams, billies) is also a vital part of the class.  Students will learn how to perform gross and micro analysis of the male's breeding ability and learn how to conduct an in-depth semen evaluation.  The class meets once per week and the class is mainly laboratory based.

Animal Science 4342 – Sheep and Goat Science (Taught every Spring semester and odd year fall semesters)

The lecture section of this class is taught by Dr. Engdahl and I teach the laboratories.  Lab include general sheep and goat management as it relates to animals health, facilities, nutrition and breeding.  Labs will include fiber analysis, lambing and kidding, animal handling, proper drug administration, selection and culling, nutritional management and breeding management.  All labs are hands-on learning environments where the students are provided the opportunity to put to use what they learn in class.  The sheep and goat flock work (at the University Ranch) is scheduled around class so that the students actually get to experience "real world" situations.  

Animal Science 4344 – Animal Reproduction (Taught every Fall semester)

Animal reproduction is designed to give the students the basic understanding of animal reproduction.  Species covered in class include cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses and some companion animals.  Students are expected to understand both the male and female reproductive anatomy.  Students are also expected to understand the female's estrous cycle and know what hormones and hormonal mechanisms control the cycle.  Germ cell production and development is one of the topics that is covered in great detail in both the male and female.  Understanding how to manage reproduction in livestock is an area that all topics are related back to.  Students are also expected to develop a reproductive management plan for a situation provided in class.  This plan will cover every aspect of management from nutrition to replacement animal selection.  A laboratory is associated with this class to reinforce the concepts discussed in class.

Animal Science 6339 – Advanced Reproductive Physiology (Taught falls of odd numbered years)

Advanced reproductive physiology is a graduate class that is designed to provide the students with an in depth understanding of the reproductive process of livestock species.  Students will learn what controls reproduction and factors that may influence reproduction.  Students will be expected to learn the hormonal controls and how they may be manipulated to increase reproductive efficiency.  Additionally, students will be expected to know the process of gamete formation in both the female and male.  The class will also discuss how reproduction and nutrition interact with one another and how nutrition may be used to improve reproduction in females.  Each student will also present a lecture over a topic in reproduction that is not related to their graduate research.  Before beginning the class, each student is expected to have a basic understanding of reproduction in livestock species.

Research

Current areas of research include:

Improving reproductive performance in sheep, goats and cattle by management.

Reproductive and nutritional interactions in livestock.

The relationship between central performance test performance and range production in sheep and goats.

Factors controlling estrous in sheep, goats and cattle.

Sheep and goat production.

Facilities

Fully functional feedmill. 

Nutrition Laboratories.

Physiology Laboratory.  

Meats Laboratory

Complete set of livestock working facilities for cattle, sheep and goats.

Extensive animal feeding pens for group feedlot research and individual animal research.

Over 4500 acres for use in range livestock research and for range and wildlife research.

Rambouillet, Suffolk and Hair sheep, Angora and Boer Goats, Angus Cattle.