https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajas <p>The <em>South African Journal of Animal Science</em> is a peer-reviewed journal for publication of original scientific research articles and reviews in the field of animal science. The journal is published both electronically and in paper format. The scope of the journal includes reports of research dealing with farm livestock species (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry), as well as pertinent aspects of research on aquatic and wildlife species. The main disciplines covered are nutrition, genetics and physiology. Papers dealing with sociological aspects of well-defined livestock production systems are also invited, providing they are scientific by nature and have been carried out in a systematic way.</p> <p>Other websites related to this journal: <a title="http://www.sasas.co.za" href="http://www.sasas.co.za" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://www.sasas.co.za</a></p> <p>The journal is ISI Rated (Agriculture, Dairy and Animal Science Impact factor) with an Impact Factor of&nbsp;0.678 for 2016.</p> en-US Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the journal. sajas.eic@gmail.com (Dr Megan North) secretary@sasas.co.za (Executive Secretary) Sun, 18 May 2025 14:55:29 +0000 OJS 3.3.0.11 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajas/article/view/296078 <p>This study aimed to evaluate the effects of dietary prickly pear (<em>Opuntia ficus-indica</em>) powderand <em>Lactobacillus</em> supplements on calf growth and faecal pathogen counts. Prickly pear leaves were harvested, sun-dried for 14 days, and oven-dried at 105 °C, before grinding into a powder. Twenty-four female Holstein dairy calves (39.03 ± 0.75 kg live weight) were randomly assigned to each of the four treatment groups. The four treatments were: T1: the control group, calves fed a basal diet (milk plus calf meal), without supplementation; T2: calves fed the basal diet plus <em>Lactobacillus</em> at 5 g/day; T3: calves fed the basal diet plus prickly pear powder at 2.5 g/day; and T4: calves fed the basal diet plus prickly pear powder at 5 g/day. These treatments were applied from four days of age until weaning. Calf starter feed and clean water were provided <em>ad libitum</em> for the entire study period. The dietary treatments affected the feed dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, average daily gain, weaning weight, faecal total coliform count, faecal <em>Escherichia coli </em>count, and faecal <em>Enterobacteriaceae</em> count, compared to the control group. It was concluded that the dietary supplementation of <em>Lactobacillus</em> or prickly pear powder improves feed efficiency and body weight gain, as well as reducing faecal pathogen counts in Holstein dairy calves.</p> P.M. Moshidi, A.S. Sindane, S. Washaya, M.C. Muya Copyright (c) 2025 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajas/article/view/296078 Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajas/article/view/296493 <p>The fleeces of mammals with dense coats, such as the mohair fleeces of Angora goats, usually include medullated fibres. These fibres constitute a problem for the textile industry because of their structural characteristics. Three experiments were conducted in this study, with the aim of comparing human image analysis to digital image analysis and artificial intelligence (AI), in terms of their ability to determine the incidence of medullation in mohair samples. The experiments entailed determining the incidences of industry non-objectionable medullated (NOB) fibres and objectionable medullated (SME) fibres, as percentages of the non-medullated fibres. In each experiment, a set of samples was analysed by both laboratory personnel and by different AI models using a Smart Fiber Medullometer. Laboratory personnel showed better coincidence and higher correlations with the AI models when counting SME fibres (r = 0.64–0.97) than when counting NOB fibres (r = 0.57–0.87). This could be the result of the more clearly defined characteristics of SME fibres, in relation to NOB fibres. The results of this study<br>indicate a great advance in the automatic detection of SME and NOB fibres in mohair samples. However, further adjustments of the AI models are required for counting NOB fibres.</p> N. Giovannini, D. Sacchero, C. Quispe Bonilla, M. Quispe Bonilla, E. Quispe Peña Copyright (c) 2025 https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajas/article/view/296493 Sat, 24 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000