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
Growth and meat quality of broiler chickens fed Moringa oleifera leaf meal, a probiotic and an organic acid
Six hundred one-day-old broiler chicks were used to determine the effects of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM), a probiotic, and an organic acid on growth, weights of digestive organs, and meat quality. Starter, grower, and finisher diets were formulated to…
Mathematical models describing disappearance of Lucerne hay in the rumen using the nylon bag technique
It is essential to study the dynamics of rumen degradation of feeds before their potential use in formulating diets for ruminants. Various mathematical models have been developed to describe this degradation. The non-lagged exponential model (Model I), the lagged exponential…
Hatch traits of artificially incubated ostrich eggs as affected by setting position, angle of rotation and season
High levels of hatching failure in artificially incubated ostrich eggs cause considerable loss in income for the industry. During the 2015 - 2016 breeding seasons, between 846 and 1 549 egg records were used to determine the effect of various…
Evaluation of polyherbal methionine and choline in feedlot rations for lambs
Requirements of lambs for choline and methionine have not been clearly established, but because of their metabolic relationship, the availability of these two nutrients may affect protein synthesis and energy balance. Therefore, a trial was carried out to evaluate the…
Determination of in vitro rumen digestibility and potential feed value of tiger nut varieties
Tiger nut (Cyperus esculentus L.), or chufa, is a plant that is found in nature and is cultivated for its edible tubers. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical composition, nutritive value, and in vitro digestibility of…
Effects of vitamin E, an oil blend and L-Arginine on breast meat from broiler chickens
The study examined the effects of supplementing vitamin E on the fatty acid profile and breast meat quality of broilers fed diets containing an oil blend and L-Arginine. Two hundred sixteen Cobb 500 one-day-old broilers were randomly allocated to six…
Performance and egg quality of commercial laying hens fed with various levels of protected sodium butyrate
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of including protected sodium butyrate (PSB) in the diets of laying hens of advanced age on productive performance and egg quality. In experiment 1, a total of 320 Dekalb White 61-week-old laying…
Evaluation of serum analytes in pregnant and non-pregnant dairy cows as indicators of pregnancy
This study was conducted to reveal the dynamics of haematological indicators in pregnant and non-pregnant dairy cows. Sixty multiparous healthy dairy cows were divided into four groups based on the length of time they had been pregnant, namely first, second…
Inclusion of shrimp waste meal in diet of free-range chickens
Shrimp waste meal (SWM) is a by-product from the processing of shrimp for human consumption. The value of SMW in feeding poultry is not well documented. The objective of this study was to determine the energy value and optimal inclusion…
Effect of extrusion on the rumen undegradable protein fraction of lupins
Lupins are highly degradable in the rumen, and do not provide enough bypass protein for high-producing ruminant animals. The effects of extrusion on dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) rumen degradability of Lupinus albus and Lupinus angustifolius were determined…
Response of broiler chicks to L-Glutamine feeding in the ımmediate pre- and post-hatch periods
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of in ovo and post-hatching supplementation with L-Glutamine (Gln) on hatching characteristics, performance, small intestinal morphology, and muscle development of broilers. At day 18 of incubation, 960 fertilized eggs were allocated to…
Evaluation of synchronization protocols and methods of early pregnancy diagnosis in dairy cattle
The studies aimed to evaluate the pregnancy rate (PR) for timed artificial insemination (TAI) after G7G-Ovsynch, modified G7G-Ovsynch (MG7G-Ovsynch) and Ovsynch protocols and to assess the accuracy of using pregnancy-associated glycoproteins (PAGs) and plasma progesterone (P4) in pregnancy diagnosis compared…
Adding wheat and rapeseed meal to corn-soy diets affects intestinal morphology and nutrient digestibility in broilers
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of thyme essential oil and enzyme supplementation on rations with two different energy (wheat or corn) and protein resources (soy or rapeseed meals) on gut morphology and protein digestibility of broiler chickens…
Identifying sequence variation in cation channel sperm associated genes in Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)
The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) has recovered from near extinction over more than eight decades. While their numbers have increased, populations remain isolated with low genetic diversity. With more than 75 new populations being founded and more than…
Effects of a starch binding agent on in vitro rumen degradability of maize and sorghum starch
The objective of the study was to quantify the potential of a starch binding agent (BioProtect™) to reduce in vitro rumen starch degradation of maize and sorghum particles that varied in size. Maize and sorghum grain samples were ground through…
Evaluation of female fertility in dairy cattle enterprises – A review
The aim of this article was to review the state of fertility of female dairy cattle in South Africa and to compare it with international efforts at improving fertility. Fertility in dairy cows is defined as the ability to conceive…
Effects of feed particle size on energy values for broiler chickens at various ages
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of various geometric mean diameters (GMDs) of particles of corn, pelleted soybean meal and a corn-soy mixture in the proportion of 70% and 30%, respectively, on the nutritional value of…
Rearing system effects on live weight gain of Large White turkeys
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of three production systems on live weight gain (LWG) of white turkeys by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and profile analysis. A total of 81 turkey poults were assigned…
Dietary inclusion of ensiled avocado oil cake affects growth, nutrient digestion, and carcass characteristics of pigs
In this experiment, the effects were evaluated of various dietary inclusion levels of avocado oil cake (AOC) silage on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics in pigs. A mixture of 70% AOC, 25% wheat bran, and 5% sugarcane molasses…
Clinical evaluation of chemo-sterilization through histomorphology and hormonal changes in bucks
The study was aimed to evaluate methods for nonsurgical castration of Black Bengal bucks by intra-testicular injection of calcium chloride, sodium chloride, citric acid solutions or sterile deionized water. Twelve healthy bucks were randomly allotted to groups A, B, C,…
