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
Carcass characteristics of South African native chicken lines (Short communication)
Carcass characteristics of the Koekoek, New Hampshire, Naked-Neck, Lebowa-Venda and Ovambo chicken lines were evaluated. The highest dressed-carcass mass was recorded for Ovambo chickens and the highest percentage breast muscle was recorded for Naked-Neck chickens. Percentage fat and fatty acid…
The effect of protein inclusion level in diets formulated to contain an ideal amino acid composition for growing pigs
The aim of the study was to determine the optimum protein inclusion level in diets containing an ideal amino acid balance for growing pigs. The performance of commercial crossbred grower-pigs was studied in two trials in which the experimental animals…
The effects of dietary soyabean oil-cake meal on performance and gut histology of piglets
The effects of four diets containing different protein sources on the performance and gut histology of piglets were compared. The diets contained as the main protein sources either: milk powder plus fishmeal, milk powder plus high-protein (48% crude protein) soyabean…
Evaluation of cottonseed oil-cake meal as a protein source in calf starter meals (Short communication)
The growth performance of 18 Holstein and 20 Jersey heifer calves fed calf starter meals containing either cottonseed oil-cake meal (CSOCM) or soybean oil-cake meal (SBOCM) was compared. The diets were iso-nutritious in terms of crude protein and energy, and…
The effects of maternal calving date and calving interval on growth performance of beef calves
This study was undertaken to investigate the growth performance of calves born to dams with different calving dates and calving intervals. Early calving dams produced calves with the lowest birth weights, the highest actual weaning weights and the highest pre-breeding…
Milk production of Tswana goats fed diets containing different levels of energy
The aim of this experiment was to characterize the milk yield of the Tswana goat of Botswana. Twenty-one Tswana goat does were allocated to one of three diets formulated to provide energy for maintenance and a milk yield of either…
The effect of closing date on the performance of beef weavers grazing foggaged Digitaria eriantha and Acroceras macrum
Digitaria eriantha spp. eriantha and Acroceras macrum foggage, closed off at three different dates (end of December, end of January and end of February), was evaluated for use as winter grazing for the overwintering of weaner steers in the Sour…
Responses of Tswana goats to various lengths of water deprivation
The aim of this trial was to determine the water intake of Tswana goats and investigate the effects of short term water deprivation in summer or winter (6000 ml water offered either once every 72 h, 48 h, 24 h…
Genetic relationships between three indigenous cattle breeds in Mozambique
This study provides the first account of genetic relationships between three indigenous cattle breeds from Mozambique. Forty-two blood group factors and six blood proteins revealed genetic variation of 84% (Angone), (Bovine de Tete) and 90% (Landim) at the loci studied…
The influence of proportion of Simmentaler breeding in a multibreed synthetic beef cattle population on preweaning growth traits
Data from a multibreed composite beef cattle population managed under intensive irrigated grazing conditions were used to estimate direct additive heritabilities (h2a) and maternal heritabilities (h2m) for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW) of the calf and cow efficiency…
The effect of choice-feeding from 7 weeks of age on the production characteristics of laying hens
Day-old Amberlink pullets were fed chicken starter mash for the first seven weeks of age. Group A was choice-fed with pelleted protein concentrate, whole yellow maize and limestone powder from seven to 16 weeks of age. Group B received the…
An evaluation of the use of blood metabolite concentrations as indicators of nutritional status in free-ranging indigenous goats
The aim of this study was to determine whether blood metabolite concentrations in free-ranging indigenous goat are sensitive to expected variations in nutrient supply, and whether they could be used to evaluate different kidding season at two locations subject to…
Growth parameters of Holstein-Friesland heifers reared on complete diets containing different roughages
At two months of age, 48 Holstein-Friesland heifers were randomly allocated to four treatments comprising untreated wheat straw (WS), oven-ammoniated wheat straw (AWS), lucerne hay (LH) or oat hay (OH). Least cost nutrient balanced complete diets were formulated for heifers…
Relationship between performance measurements and sale price of Dorper rams in the Northern Cape Veld-Ram Club
The sale prices of 1 609 Dorper rams sold between 1990 and 1999 were compared with their measured performances. An analysis of variance was carried out in order to determine which variables influenced sale price. The most importance factors were…
Meat quality attributes of night-cropped Impala (Aepyceros melampus)
The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of using a heavy or a light calibre rifle for night cropping of impala (Aepyceros melampus) on meat quality (pH, colour, cooking and drip loss, tenderness). The effect of gender…
A nonparametric Bayesian approach for genetic evaluation in animal breeding
This article proposes the Bayesian approach to solve problems arising in animal breeding theory. General elements of Bayesian inferences, e.g. prior and posterior distributions, likelihood functions, and the solving of the random effects in the case of the mixed linear…
Factors affecting goat production in a communal farming system in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa
The aim of this survey was to characterize the economic, social and nutritional importance of goat farming in the Mgwalana district of the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, and to identify critical constraints and opportunities for use in future…
The roles of the insulin-like growth factor system and leptin as possible mediators of the effects of nutritional restriction on
The aim of this experiment was to determine to what extent changes in the blood concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs), leptin and glucose are associated with compensatory growth and age at puberty in Friesian heifers…
The effects of shade and shearing date on the production of Merino sheep in the Swartland region of South Africa
A total of 497 Merino ewes were allocated to one of four experimental groups for the period 1996 to 1998. The treatments were designed to provide data on the effect of shade during an autumn lambing season and the effect…
Genetic studies on the South African Mutton Merino: growth traits
Genetic parameters were estimated for 36-, 42-, 50-, 100- and 150-day weight in the South African Mutton Merino breed. The direct heritability estimates obtained were 0.270, 0.366, 0.278, 0.185 and 0.115 respectively. The maternal heritability estimates for the respective weights…
