The South African Society for Animal Science (SASAS) has changed the way the journal submission process is handled. An Online Journal Management System had been developed in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) to facilitate the Journal Submission & Review Process.
Authors are kindly requested to submit all future articles for publication in the SA Journal of Animal Science via the Online Journal Management system.
If you experience any problems with the system, please contact the Editor at sajas.eic@gmail.com.
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Oxalate and silica contents of seven varieties of Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum)
Oxalate and silica are considered antinutrients. Large quantities of oxalate and silica in plants can interfere with the uptake of essential minerals in ruminants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the total silica and oxalate contents of…
Incorporating oldman saltbush hay and prickly pear in diets for red Sindhi calves
This study was designed to evaluate the nutrient intake, digestibility, degradability, and ruminal characteristics of Sindhi heifers fed diets that contained a combined total of 75% oldman saltbush hay (hereafter saltbush hay) and prickly pear cactus. Eight 12-month old intact…
Effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation on the quality and in vitro gas production of einkorn wheat straw
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) inoculation on the quality of einkorn wheat straw (EWS) and in vitro gas production (GP). It was found that AM inoculation of EW seed before sowing…
A review on the involvement of catecholamines in animal behaviour
Animal temperament and individual animal personalities in combination with an animal’s ability to cope with stressful situations have been studied in the past. There are clear differences between cattle breeds in urinary catecholamine concentration. Individual differences in behaviour exist in…
Mitochondrial functionality and beef colour: A review of recent research
The bright-red colour of meat that consumers prefer depends on the depth of oxygen diffusion into the tissue and myoglobin oxygenation. Interestingly, both processes are influenced by mitochondrial activity in postmortem muscle. The transition of muscle metabolism from aerobic to…
Nutritional characteristics of meat from lambs fed diets containing mulberry hay
The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional characteristics of meat from lambs fed diets containing 0%, 12.5% and 25.0% (dry matter (DM)) mulberry hay as a substitute for the concentrate. Twenty-four feedlot Île-de-France lambs with an average…
Effect of peppermint and thyme essential oil mist on performance and physiological parameters in broiler chickens
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of peppermint and thyme essential oil mist on performance, blood parameters and lymphoid organ indices in broiler chickens. The experiment was conducted on 360 broilers raised until 42 days of…
Evaluating horn traits of economic importance in sable antelope (Hippotragus niger niger)
Much of the economic value of wildlife can be attributed to horn size, which is an important trait for trophy hunters. The main objective of the study was to estimate genetic parameters for the economically important horn traits of sable…
Effect of various levels of dietary whole cottonseed on blood parameters and performance of Awassi lambs under heat stress
This study was carried out to determine the effect of whole cottonseed (WCS) supplementation on finishing performance and blood parameters of Awassi lambs under heat stress. The compositions of diets for the various treatments were i) control: concentrate without WCS…
Effect of dried distillers grains (DDGS) on diet digestibility, growth performance, and carcass characteristics in Creole wool lambs fed finishing diets
Dried corn distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) can partially replace grains and forages in diets for ruminants. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of replacing grains and soybean meal with DDGS (0%, 15%, 30% and 45%)…
Effect of Chinese herbal medicines on rumen fermentation, methanogenesis and microbial flora in vitro
This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of three Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) on rumen fermentation, methane emission and population of ruminal microbes using an in vitro gas production technique. Three healthy wethers of Dazu Black goats with…
Identification of muscle and adipose gene expression patterns in lean and obese pigs
Obesity is a major risk factor of preventable deaths worldwide, with increasing rates being observed in adults and children. To understand the mechanisms of obesity development, genetically lean (Duroc strain) and obese (Rongchang strain) pigs were used to identify potential differences in…
Analysis of 16S mitochondrial ribosomal DNA sequence variations and phylogenetic relations among some Serranidae fishes
Reconstruction of phylogenetic relations among certain Serranidae fish could be applied to detect the biodiversity that is needed to conserve these biological resources. This study was designed to provide information about the molecular variations within and among numbers of economically…
Investigation of single nucleotide polymorphisms in porcine candidate genes for blood component traits in pigs
This study used 209 public single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays for 151 candidate genes of pigs to analyse their association with nine blood component traits (insulin-like growth factor-I, insulin, immuno globulin, lymphocyte, monocyte, eosinophil, basophil, neutrophil and atypical lymph) in…
Effects of yeast culture on broiler growth performance, nutrient digestibility and caecal microbiota
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of yeast culture (YC) supplementation on the growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility and caecal microflora of broiler chickens. A total of 360 one-day-old Arbor Acres broiler chickens were randomly assigned to six…
Effect of late prepartum fibre-based diets on the live weight changes and reproduction of Holstein cows in the subsequent lactation period
The objective of this study was to evaluate two late prepartum fibre-based diets that differed in non-structural carbohydrate (NFC) and protein levels on live weight (LW) changes and fertility traits of Holstein cows until 120 days postpartum. At 30 days…
Characteristics of carcass and non-carcass components of lambs fed diets containing silages of forages adapted to the semi-arid environment
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of diets containing silages of forages that are adapted to the semi-arid environment on the characteristics of the carcass and of non-carcass components of 32 mixed-breed lambs at approximately six…
Use of apple pomace in animal feed as an antioxidant of meat
The experiment was aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary inclusion of fermented apple pomace (FAP) in lamb diet on physicochemical and lipid oxidation of meat during storage at 4 °C. Twenty-four crossbred sheep were randomly assigned to two experimental…
Pre-weaning growth performance and carcass traits of Awassi and Chios-Awassi lambs
One hundred and three lambs (26 Chios-Awassi (CA) and 77 Awassi (AA)) were used to evaluate the effect of crossbreeding on growth performance, body dimensions and carcass characteristics. At weaning, 8 CA and 8 AA male lambs were randomly selected…
Pineapple stem by-product as a feed source for growth performance, ruminal fermentation, carcass and meat quality of Holstein steers
This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of pineapple stem by-product silage as a feed source in total replacement of Napier or corn silages on growth performance, feed intake and feed efficiency, ruminal fermentation, carcass characteristics and meat quality…
