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
Nutritive value and physical characteristics of Xaraes palisadegrass as affected by grazing strategy
The aim of this study was to ascertain whether the defoliation frequency based on a fixed rest period would generate variable sward structural and physiological conditions at each subsequent grazing event. The relative importance of the physiological age was established…
Influence of supplemental aminooligosaccharides on in vitro disappearance of diets for dairy cattle and its effects on milk yiel
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of supplemental aminooligosaccharides (AOS) on the disappearance and fermentation of diets for lactating cows, and its effects on milk yield and quality. In the first study, diets containing 0 or 0.2% AOS…
Effect of bromine and iodine in drinking water on production parameters of broilers
Levels of bromine (Br) in groundwater that exceeded guideline concentrations of 0.01 mg/L prompted the investigation of the effect Br and iodine (I) in drinking water on the production parameters of broilers. The research was done over a 42-day growth…
Effect of extruded cotton and canola seed on unsaturated fatty acid composition in the plasma, erythrocytes and livers of lambs
An experiment was conducted to study the effects of extruded cotton seed (ECOS) and canola seed (ECAS) in the diet of male Mehraban lambs on the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids in their plasma, erythrocytes and livers. The treatments were:…
Phenotypic and molecular characterization of six Sudanese camel breeds
The objective of this study was to sequence the growth hormone (GH) gene in Sudanese camel breeds (Kenani, Lahwee, Rashaidi, Anafi, Bishari and Kabbashi) searching for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and contribute to the phenotypic characterization of the multitude of…
Efficacy of lactobacilli to normalize production of corticosterone induced by unpleasant handling of broilers
A study was conducted to investigate the effect of two Lactobacillus strains on hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis activity induced by supposedly unpleasant handling (UH) of broiler chickens. The three treatments were: (1) non-handled chicks fed basal diet (control); (2)…
Influence of growth stage at harvest on fermentative characteristics of Panicum maximum silage
An experiment was conducted to investigate the influence of stage of growth at harvest on fermentative characteristics of Panicum maximum silage. The treatments were three different growth stages (early vegetative, boot and full bloom stage) that were ensiled directly or…
Estimation of genetic parameters for carcass traits in Japanese quail using Bayesian methods (Short communication)
The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of some carcass characteristics in the Japanese quail. For this aim, carcass weight (Cw), breast weight (Bw), leg weight (Lw), abdominal fat weight (AFw), carcass yield (CP), breast percentage (BP),…
Response of broiler chickens to diets containing artificially dried high-moisture maize supplemented with microbial enzymes
The effect of feeding high-moisture maize grains dried in the sun or artificially in a forced draught oven at 80, 90 or 100 °C for 24 hours and supplemented with microbial enzymes (Avizyme 1502 and Phyzyme XP) on growth performance,…
Effects of kefir as a probiotic source on the performance of goat kids
Kefir is a sour, viscous, slightly carbonated and alcoholic milk beverage, which is traditionally fermented using a culture of bacteria and yeasts. The influence of kefir on health has been well studied in mice and rats. However, research on kefir…
Effect of dietary supplementation of licorice extract and a prebiotic on performance and blood metabolites of broilers
Six hundred Ross 308 male broiler chickens were used to study the effect of licorice extract and the prebiotic, fermacto, on performance, blood metabolites and gastro-intestinal transit time (GTT) of feed in the birds. The birds were fed according to…
Discriminant analysis of morphometric differentiation in the West African Dwarf and Red Sokoto goats
This study evaluated the usefulness of morphological characteristics to distinguish two important indigenous goat breeds in Nigeria. Fifteen morphometric traits were measured on West African Dwarf – WAD (n = 160) and Red Sokoto – RS (n = 142) goats…
Scientific research: the planning process (Invited paper)
This paper describes a few important aspects of the process that should be followed before an experiment is conducted. One should start by defining the hypothesis or theory to be tested, which gives a good indication of the way in…
Environmental-genotype responses in livestock to global warming: A southern African perspective (Invited paper)
Global warming will change Southern Africa’s environments from grass dominated vegetation to dry woodland and desert with a vegetation of C4 dominated grasses, whereas the grazing capacity is expected to decline by more than 30%. Animals will also be more…
Effect of environmental factors on the digestibility and voluntary feed intake of kikuyu
Digestion trials using sheep and voluntary feed intake (VFI) trials using long yearling heifers in Calan gates were conducted in the spring, summer and autumn. Five years of digestibility data, amounting to 82 digestion trials, was pooled for this study…
Effect of herbage composition on the digestibility and voluntary feed intake of kikuyu
Digestion trials using sheep and voluntary feed intake (VFI) trials using long yearling heifers in Calan gates were conducted in the spring, summer and autumn over 5 years. These data and the chemical composition of the herbage were regressed on…
The economic viability of finishing Nguni weaners on natural veld and permanent pastures
The objective of this study was to investigate the economic viability of finishing Nguni weaners on natural veld and permanent pastures under dry land conditions. A group of 30 Nguni calves (7-9 months age) were randomly divided into two treatment…
Effect of two levels of supplementary feeding and two stocking rates of grazing ostriches on irrigated lucerne dry matter intake
This study determined the effect of two stocking rates of ostriches (10 and 15 birds/ha) and two levels of supplementary feeding (0 and 800 g/bird/day) on the intake and production of irrigated lucerne pastures over a period of five months…
Preliminary results on the description of body composition change in ostriches (Struthio camelus) under optimal feeding conditio
A study was conducted to describe the changes occurring in body composition of ostriches over a 285-day growth period. Fifty two birds were given a choice of four diets with different protein (180 and 120 g/kg feed) and energy (8.5…
