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 (2025): 0.8 (Q4 of subject category)
Scimago (SJR) (2025): 0.231 (Q3)
Scopus CiteScore (2025): 1.4
Intensification of production, low emission pathways and sustainable strategies for backyard, layer and broiler chickens
Meat and eggs produced by chickens represent an important economic resource in many economies. In future, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by chickens will increase due to greater food demand. This study analyses the GHG emissions of chickens and…
Effect of litter type and perches on footpad dermatitis and hock burn in broilers housed at different stocking densities
The aim of the study was to assess the effect of litter type and environmental enrichment on the occurrence of footpad dermatitis and hock burns in broilers housed at low and high stocking densities. Chopped straw and sand were used…
Metabolic profile and histopathology of kidneys and liver of lambs fed silages of forages adapted to a semi-arid environment
Thirty-two mixed-breed ram lambs (average age, 5.6 ± 0.4 months, and average live weight, 17.61 ± 2.63 kg) were used to evaluate the effect of diets containing silages of forages adapted to a semi-arid environment on the metabolic profile in…
Impacts of supplementing broiler diets with a powder mixture of black cumin, Moringa and chicory seeds
The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of a phytogenic mixture in the diet on broiler production. A total of 400 day-old unsexed Cobb broiler chicks were randomly allotted to four treatment groups of 10 replications in a randomised…
Impacts of dietary inclusion of dried brewers’ grains on growth, carcass traits, meat quality, nutrient digestibility and blood biochemical indices of broilers
The current investigation aimed to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of dried brewers’ grains (DBG) on growth performance, carcass traits, meat quality, nutrient digestibility, blood biochemical constituents and antioxidant indices of broiler chickens. A total of 300 unsexed one-week-old…
Ammonia levels on in vitro degradation of fibrous carbohydrates from buffel grass
This study was carried out to examine the degradation dynamics of neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and the profile of volatile fatty acids that originate from the fermentation of buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris, L.) with various levels of ammonia in the…
Effect of shackling, electrical stunning and halal slaughtering method on stress-linked hormones in broilers
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of shackling and halal slaughter with head-only electrical stunning (ES) using water bath or no stunning (NS) on plasma levels of adrenaline (AD), noradrenaline (NAD) and corticosterone (CORT) levels of…
Investigating novelty traits to improve cow-calf efficiency in South African Afrikaner, Angus and Charolais for climate-smart production
The aim is of the study was to identify novelty traits that could be used as breeding objectives to improve cow-calf efficiency and describe cow efficiency in extensive systems in support of climate-smart production in beef cattle. The traits that…
Effects of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes on the ruminal fermentation of agro-industrial by-products
This research was performed to evaluate the effects of increasing doses of exogenous fibrolytic enzymes (EFE), namely at 0 (control), 1 (low), 2 (medium) and 4 (high) μL/g dry matter (DM), on the ruminal fermentation of low-quality agro-industrial by-products, grape…
Aluminosilicates and yeast-based mycotoxin binders: Their ameliorated effects on growth, immunity and serum chemistry in broilers fed aflatoxin and ochratoxin
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of commercial toxin binders on growth performance, organ morphology, immunity and serum biochemistry in broilers. Dietary treatments consisted of the negative control (NC): experimental diet with aflatoxin B1 <20 parts…
Genetic diversity and population structure of Turkish native cattle breeds
Cattle are an important livestock species for human life, but certain breeds are at risk of extinction. Maintaining genetic diversity plays an important role in sustainable breeding and conservation programmes in farm animals. The aim of this study was to…
Antioxidant activity and duodenum transporter gene expression in quail fed citric acid
The study aimed to evaluate the effects of citric acid supplementation on the performance and the gene expression in the duodenum of Japanese quail. Genes related to antioxidant activity: superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase 7 (GPX7); and genes related…
Effect of additives on fermentation characteristics, nutrient values and in vitro fermentation profile of Neolamarckia cadamba leaf silage
This study was designed to investigate the effects of additives on the ensiling characteristics of Neolamarckia cadamba leaf (NCL) silage. The NCL were allocated to six ensiling treatments, namely control (C-S), uncompacted (UC-S) (negative control), with the addition of sodium…
Increasing reproductive rates of both sexes in dairy cattle breeding optimizes response to selection
It was reasoned that technologies that increase the reproductive rate of males and females in dairy cattle would realize higher responses to selection. The authors tested this hypothesis using deterministic simulation of breeding schemes that resembled those of dairy cattle…
Reproductive and oxidative status of ewes supplemented with vitamin C during oestrous synchronization and early gestation
The objective of the study was to evaluate the reproductive efficiency and antioxidant status of ewes supplemented with two levels of vitamin C during oestrous synchronization and early gestation. Sixty-three ewes were allocated to three treatments, namely T0: control group;…
Productive performance, blood biochemical variables and immune responses of laying hens fed diets containing various fat sources
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of various fat sources on productive performance, blood biochemical variables and immune responses of laying hens. Laying hens were divided into seven groups, which received i) basal or control diet (no oil);…
Effect of varying levels of protein concentration on production traits of ostriches (Struthio camelus var. domesticus)
The ostrich industry is poised to recover from the recent lifting of the four-year export ban on fresh meat products to the European Union EU). However, during this period profit margins were severely affected and the need to minimize input…
PCR-RFLP-based identification of polymorphisms in BMPR1B, GDF9 and BMP15 genes associated with litter size in Beetal and Teddy goats
The genes BMPR1B, GDF9 and BMP15 are oocyte-derived members of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, which is essential for follicular growth and ovulation. The aim of the current study was to determine the incidence of reported mutations in exon 3…
Lactation performance and blood metabolites in lactating dairy cows micro-supplemented with Moringa oleifera leaf meal
This study examined the effects of micro-supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal on lactation performance and blood metabolites of lactating dairy cows. Thirty Jersey cows (± 40 days in milk (DIM)) were supplemented with Moringa oleifera leaf meal (M) at…
Effects of sea-buckthorn leaves on performance and serum metabolic profiles in Altay lambs
In this study, the effects of sea-buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) leaves (SL) on the biochemical parameters and metabolomic profiling in Altay lamb (Ovis aries) were observed. Sixty six-month-old male Altay lambs (body weight 28.0 ± 3.5 kg) were randomly assigned…
