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
Nutrient partitioning and response to insulin challenge at different planes of nutrition during lactation in goats of high vs. l
The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of genetic selection for milk production on nutrient partitioning at a high vs. a low plane of nutrition. Twelve Indigenous goat does and eight Saanen x Indigenous crossbred does were…
Genetic parameter estimates for type traits in the South African Jersey breed
Known environmental effects influencing type trait scores in South African Jersey cattle were identified. Variance components and heritabilities were estimated for these traits as well as genetic correlations among them and with production traits. Heritability estimates were generally low to…
Estimates of crossbreeding parameters in a multibreed beef cattle crossbreeding project
Data from purebred and crossbred cattle, consisting of the Afrikaner (A), Simmentaler (S) and Hereford (H) breeds managed in a relatively intensive but high stocking rate environment, were analysed to estimate breed direct effects, individual heterotic effects, breed maternal and…
The effect of dietary rumen degradable protein content on veal calf performance
The objective of this study was to determine the undegradable dietary protein requirements of veal calves. Two experiments were carried out with Holstein bull calves from 3-10 days of age until slaughter at 20 weeks of age. Both experiments were…
The effect of age on in sacco estimates of rumen dry matter and crude protein degradability in veal calves
This study was conducted to determine whether rumen dry matter and crude protein degradability in calves aged 8-10 weeks differs from that in mature cows. Five Holstein bull calves were rumen-fistulated at six weeks of age and were used in…
Pre-weaning growth traits of the Hereford breed in a multibreed composite beef cattle population
Data from a multibreed composite beef cattle population, managed under intensive irrigated grazing conditions, were used to estimate direct additive heritabilities (h2a), maternal heritabilities (h2m) and maternal permanent environmental effects (c2) birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW) of the…
The production performance of lactating Jersey cows receiving varying levels of lucerne hay and oat silage as roughage sources
In this study the production performance of lactating dairy cows receiving varying levels of oat silage (OS) and lucerne hay (LH) was determined as well as the maximum inclusion level of OS. Oats was ensiled in the soft dough stage…
