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
The incidence of foetal dwarfism in shorthorn cattle in the subtropics
Results are reported on the incidence of foetal dwarfism in purebred Shorthorn cattle in the subtropics. One third of the calves born weighed less than 18 kg and half weighed less than 22,75 kg. The weight of dwarfs ranged from…
The effect of castration and vasectomy on male Zebus which grazed veld under two systems of management
Thirty-six animals were used to examine the effect of castration and vasectomy on performance of bulls which grazed veld under two systems of management. During the trial (which lasted from 15th May, 1964 to 28th December, 1966) rates of bodymass…
Die bepaling van spier, vet en been in karkasse en snitte van jong osse
The carcasses of eighteen steers with an average age of 16 months (beef, dairy and crossbred types) were used to determine the part-whole relationships in the composition of cuts and carcasses. The prime rib cut which is a very practical…
Seisoenale veranderinge in chemiese samestelling van volwasse blesbokramme (Damaliscus dorcas phillipsi) van die Van Riebeeck na
Seasonal changes in chemical composition of adult blesbok (Damaliscus dorcas phillips/) males from the Van Riebeeck nature reserve Whole body analyses were carried out on mature blesbok males over the four seasons of the year. A clear seasonal pattern emerged…
Beskrywing van tegnieke en chemiese analises van skaapliggame en foute daaraan verbonde
A description of procedures and associated errors for chemical analyses of whole bodies of sheep. As part of a comparative slaughter experiment, whole bodies of 24 lambs were analyzed for dry matter, nitrogen, ether-extract, ash and energy content. A large…
The influence of dietary protein and energy concentration on the body composition of broiler breeder pullets
In an experiment designed to test the effect of different protein and energy treatments on body mass restriction of broiler breeder pullets, carcass analyses were carried out on these birds at 3 different stages during the growing period. None of…
The evaluation and standardisation of pig rations under South African conditions: 2.The influence of feeding protein and energy
A total of 224 pigs were used in two experiments to study the effect of two isocaloric diets containing 16,4 or 11,7% crude-protein on rate of gain, feed conversion efficiency, carcass characteristics and carcass composition of baconers, fed ad libitum…
Absence of de-adaptation to biuret after a three-day break in feeding it to sheep
Merino wethers were used to study adaptation to biuret and the effect of a 3-day interruption in feeding biuret to fully adapted sheep. N-retention and urinary biuret concentration were used as criteria. When fed 7g biuret daily in addition to…
Pre- and post-weaning performance of artificially reared lambs
Twenty-four South African Mutton Merino ewe lambs were artificially reared in a 22-factorial experiment on 5 or 10 kg milk substitute to weaning at 25 or 30 days. From weaning until a minimum of 100 days of age and a…
Winter cereal pasture and Eragrostis curvula hay for fat lamb production
The utilization of winter cereal pasture was investigated using Dohne Merino ewes. They were grazed for two hours per day on pasture and in addition were fed 0,46 kg of E. curvula hay. Weaning at eight weeks was compared with…
Aspects of puberty in the indigenous gilt
Parameters relating to the onset of puberty were recorded in a total of 120 indigenous gilts in two experiments. In the first experiment gilts were reared from eight weeks of age on three planes. of nutrition estimated to provide 100…
Preliminary study on water and electrolyte metabolism during thermal and dehydrational stress in two breeds of sheep
Two Damara and two South African Mutton Merino wethers of the same age were deprived of water for seven days under high environmental temperatures. During this time the body mass of both breeds decreased by about 29% and daily feed…
