The South African Journal of Animal Science is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. The journal publishes reports of research dealing with the production of farmed animal species (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, poultry and ostriches), as well as pertinent aspects of research on companion animals and aquatic and wildlife species. All submitted articles are subjected to a single-blind peer review process that is managed by a section editor under the supervision of the editor-in-chief. Copyright of a published article resides with the authors. Such articles will be published as open access content and be covered by the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 South African Licence. Users may copy, distribute, transmit and adapt the work, but must recognise the authors and the South African Journal of Animal Science.
Originally supported by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), the South African Journal of Animal Science moved online in the early 2000s using a custom-built manuscript submission and editorial management system. In August 2025, the journal transitioned to the Public Knowledge Project’s Open Journal Systems (PKP OJS), hosted by Khulisa Journals at the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf).
In line with international best practices, the journal integrates key components of digital research infrastructure, including DOIs (digital object identifiers), ORCID iDs (researcher identifiers), ROR IDs (research organisation identifiers), and CCLs (Creative Commons Licences), ensuring transparency, traceability, and global interoperability.
As of August 2025, the South African Journal of Animal Science makes use of the Crossref 10.17159 DOI prefix. View the journal metadata health and the Crossref DOI Conflict Report here.
If you experience any problems with the journal’s online platform, please contact the editor-in-chief at [email protected].
Clarivate Journal Impact Factor (2024): 0.6 (Q4 of subject category)
Clarivate Journal Citation Indicator (2024): 0.26
Scopus CiteScore (2024): 1.4
Balance study on sheep fed with beet molasses solubles
A balance study was carried out to investigate digestibility and retention of major nutrients in wethers fed rations in which condensed beet molasses solubles (CBS) formed 27% of the dietary DM. Results showed that CBS contained 8,3 MJ of ME…
Anatomical and nutritional adaptations in African rodents
Anatomical and nutritional adaptations were studied in four African rodents (Cricetomys gambianus, Mystromys albicaudatus, Thallomys paedulcus and Saccostomus campestris). The stomachs of all species are markedly sacculated with a highly modified corpus containing either numerous papillae or several diverticula and…
Utilization of tropical forages and alfalfa meal by rabbits
The productive performance of rabbits was evaluated on diets of alfalfa meal and tropical forages. The results showed that rabbits can utilize high forage diets with little or no cereal grain. Several tropical legumes (Desmodium distortum, Macroptilium lathyroides, Clitoria ternata…
Digestion in the capybara (Hydrochoerus huydrochaeris)
A study was undertaken to examine the digestion and fermentation in the capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) fed either forage or a predominantly concentrate diet. The large volume of digesta (3,66 and 2,73 kg), pH (6,6 and 6,3), NH3 - N (78…
Fibre digestion in the hyrax
Transit time and digestibility of two diets differing in fibre content were studied using captive hyrax (Procavia capensis). Significant negative correlations were found between transit time and NDF content of the diets. During these studies the hindgut played a major…
Aspects of the digestion in the Cape porcupine
The digestive capabilities of the Cape porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) were studied using captive and field animals. The stomach contents comprised 6,47% of the body mass and had a low pH (2,0).The Cape porcupine also has a long small intestine (670…
Volatile fatty acid production in the grey duiker, Sylvicapra grimmia
Volatile fatty acid production was studied in the rumen and caecum of culled grey duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia) and in the rumen of tame fistulated duikers. The caecum had a higher total VFA concentration and production rate per unit volume than…
Aspects of the feeding ecology of a browsing ruminant: the kudu
Forbs form the preferred dietary component of the kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros). This preference was associated with the high nutrient content of their leaves and less fibrous stem material relative to trees and shrubs. Woody browse was most sought after during…
Food selection in the blesbok on pasture with low plant diversity
Factors influencing food plant selection by the blesbok (Damaliscus dorcas) were studied in an area with simple plant composition. Dicanthium pyllosum leaves were specifically selected by the blesbok. Cuticle analysis gave a ratio of 1 Dicanthium to 1,85 of all…
Food selection by giraffes in relation to changes in chemical composition of the leaves
Food preferences and food selection by giraffe have been extensively investigated but little data concerning the chemical composition of the preferred species are available. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the differences and seasonal changes in…
A comparison between Acacia and Combretum leaves utilized by giraffe
Various studies on the food preferences of giraffe indicate that the leaves of the Acacia and Combretum species are the most important food items selected. The present study was aimed at comparing the chemical composition of the leaves and explaining…
Control of feed intake as affected by previous treatment
An experiment was conducted with eighteen rumen cannulated sheep fed on a chopped lucerne diet. Previous level of intake significantly influenced the level at which sheep initially established voluntary feed intake. This difference had disappeared after three weeks on an…
Voluntary intake of hay and silage: The role of intake related rumen characteristics
Experiments were conducted to examine the difference in intake between hay and silage made from lucerne (Medicago sativa) and whether these differences could be accounted for in terms of physical rumen characteristics. Voluntary intake was lowest on lucerne hay ensiled…
Influence of roughages on rumen retention time of concentrates
The effect of roughages on the retention time of concentrates in the rumen was studied in cattle and sheep fed diets with different concentrate:roughage ratios. The organic matter retention times were calculated from the ratio, OM content in the rumen/mean…
An enzymatic approach to cell wall structure
Ruminococcus albus was incubated with isolated alfalfa cell wall material for 72 h in batch culture. Cellulose in the cell walls was digested to a somewhat greater extent (88%) than were the fermentable sugars of the hemicellulose fraction (62 -…
Processing ruminal ingesta to release bacteria attached to feed particles
A comparison was made of different methods of processing ingesta to release bacteria attached to solid particles, prior to making viable counts. Initially processing was performed under a stream of anaerobic gas and counts were made using the roll tube…
Media lacking rumen fluid for enumeration of rumen bacteria
A medium without rumen fluid but containing trypticase, hemin and volatile fatty acids was developed for the enumeration of rumen bacteria. Counts of total culturable and amylolytic bacteria were as high or higher than those obtained using medium CC (Zeigler-Leedle…
Nutritionally fastidious Ruminococcus flavefaciens strains
The majority of Ruminococcus flavefaciens strains isolated in our laboratories failed to grow or grew poorly both in rumen fluid medium and in a chemically defined medium containing all the nutrients reported to be required for good growth of this…
Bacterial flora, protozoal fauna and volatile fatty acids in the rumen of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in tropical Asia
The composition of the ruminal flora and the VFA concentration were surveyed in the water buffalo found in tropical Asia. The results showed that the average concentration of VFA in rumen contents was 57 mM and the number of bacteria…
Distribution of urease producing bacteria in the rabbit caecum
The distribution of urease-producing bacteria was examined in lumenal and mucosal-associated populations of the rabbit caecum. The total number of bacteria recovered on a nonspecific, semi-defined medium were 1,7 x 109 per g from lumen contents and 2,0 x 105…
