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
Derivation of economic values for the Simmentaler breed in South Africa
The purpose of this paper was to derive economic values for beef production, carcass quality and fitness traits for the Simmentaler breed in Southern Africa. Income was partitioned between weaners, surplus heifers and cull cows. Expenses were calculated for all…
Proposed economic selection indices for the Simmentaler breed in South Africa
The development of economic selection indices for an integrated Simmentaler production system was described. The breeding objective was defined in terms of production-, functional- and product quality traits. Criteria included in the total index were birth- and weaning weight (direct…
Body weight and growth rate of South African Angora goat kids under different pre- and post-weaning management systems
The data used for this study were collected on 16 644 kids born between 2000 and 2004 in 12 different Angora goat studs representing different management systems. Body weight and growth rate of kids from birth to 16 months of…
Effect of slaughter age and breed on the carcass traits and meat quality of beef steers finished on natural pastures in the arid
Simmentaler cross (SX), Bonsmara cross (BX) and Nguni (NG) steers were raised on natural sweet veld pastures and slaughtered at 18 or 30 months of age. Slaughtering occurred at the end of the wet summer season. Live weight and carcass…
Single nucleotide polymorphisms in five adipokine genes in dairy cattle populations hort communication)
Genetic diversity in candidate genes for fitness and production traits was explored in three populations of dairy cattle. The study focused on adipokines, including leptin (LEP), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), interleukin-8 (IL8) and interleukin-10 (IL10) as candidate genes. The…
Effects of short chain fatty acid (SCFA) supplementation on performance and egg characteristics of old breeder hens (Short commu
A study was conducted to determine the effect of supplementing the diet of breeder hens with a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) premix, containing 509 g fatty acid salts/kg of which 285 g were calcium butyrate, on their eggshell characteristics and…
Relationship between tissue retention efficiency and production traits in a slow-growing broiler population
An experiment was conducted using 96 individually caged male broilers between 49 and 77 d of age. One objective was to establish phenotypic relationships between some production traits [feed conversion ratio (FCR), feed consumption, residual feed consumption (RFC), relative weight…
Heterogeneity of variance and its implications on dairy cattle breeding
Milk yield data (n = 12307) from 116 Holstein-Friesian herds were grouped into three production environments based on mean and standard deviation of herd 305-day milk yield and evaluated for within herd variation using univariate animal model procedures. Variance components…
Inbreeding in the Dohne Merino breed in South Africa (Short communication)
The actual level of inbreeding and the effect of inbreeding depression on yearling body weight and fleece traits in the South African Dohne Merino population were investigated. All available pedigree data, which comprised of 266 268 records (302 169 animals…
Genetic correlations between female fertility and production traits in South African Holstein cattle
Female fertility is increasingly gaining importance in national dairy cattle breeding objectives worldwide. In South Africa, there is no routine prediction of breeding values for reproductive performance in dairy cattle and selection is mainly focused on production traits. The objective…
Effects of dietary supplementation of L-carnitine on performance, carcass and meat characteristics of quails
The present study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding diets containing two levels of metabolizable energy (12.13 or 11.72 MJ ME/kg) and two different fat sources (sunflower- and fish-oil) with or without supplemental L-carnitine (0 or 50 mg/kg…
Intestinal growth and function of broiler chicks fed sorghum based diets differing in condensed tannin levels
The effect of feeding sorghum condensed tannins on intestinal growth, function and histology was investigated in an 8-week broiler growth trial. Four sorghum varieties of different proanthocyanidins (PA) content; DC75 (DC - 2.48 A550nm/g DM) Chirimaugute (CH - 1.68 A550nm/g…
Broiler breeders should not be reared on long photoperiods
Sexual maturity is delayed and egg numbers are reduced when broiler breeders are reared on long photoperiods. However, this is the recommended procedure for rearing spring-hatched birds in non-lightproof buildings. Research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal has suggested that this…
Growth performance and carcass characteristics of three Ethiopian goat breeds fed grainless diets varying in concentrate to roug
Growth and carcass characteristics of three Ethiopian goat breeds, the Afar, Central Highland (CHG) and Long-eared Somali (LES) were evaluated using three grainless diets varying in concentrate:roughage ratios (diet 1 was 50:50, diet 2, 65:35 and diet 3, 80:20) under…
Effect of selenium-vitamin E injections of ewes on reproduction and growth of their lambs (Short communication)
The experiment was conducted on 90 Karacabey Merino ewes divided into three groups. The first group of ewes was treated with 5 mL 0.1% sodium selenate, the second with 5 mL 0.1% sodium selenate and 250 mg vitamin E, while…
Genetic analysis of faecal worm egg count in South African Merinos under natural challenge
Sheep from a Merino selection experiment at the Tygerhoek research farm in the Southern Cape provided material for this study. The selection lines involved included a line selected for clean fleece weight, a "Wet and Dry" line, a fine wool…
Effects of feed refreshing frequency on growth and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs
Sixty, two-month old male Awassi lambs were used in this study to investigate the effects of feed refreshing (FR) frequencies on their growth and carcass characteristics over a period of 65 days. Treatments were: Feed refreshing at 2 h (FR2),…
Carcass and muscle yields of ostriches as influenced by genotype (Short communication)
Live, carcass, leg and muscle weight (kg) as well as dressing percentage were compared between South African Black (Struthio camelus var. domesticus) ostriches, purebred Zimbabwean Blue Neck (Struthio camelus australis) ostriches and the progeny of Zimbabwean Blue Neck males crossed…
Fermentative attributes of wilted vs. unwilted Digitaria eriantha silage treated with or without molasses at ensiling
Silages made from directly cut or wilted Digitaria eriantha treated with or without molasses were evaluated to determine fermentative characteristics. The grass was harvested at the boot stage of growth and the material was ensiled in 1 kg mini-silos. Treatments…
Relationship of testicular development with age, body weight, semen characteristics and testosterone in Kivircik ram lambs
The study was conducted to measure the development of several testicular characteristics and to investigate the relationship between testicular parameters with body growth, semen characteristics and serum testosterone levels in growing ram lambs. Seventeen single born Kivircik ram lambs from…
