Enhancing pregnancy rates of bovine embryo transfer through animal welfare practices in Rwanda smallholder dairy farms

This study aimed to investigate the impact of animal welfare practices namely, ad-libitum forage feeding, providing water, and barn hygiene on the efficiency of bovine embryo transfer (ET) among smallholder dairy farms in Rwanda. From 2018 to 2019, 208 recipient cows were selected based on body condition score (2.5 to 4.5) and body weight (> 250 kg). Welfare practices were monitored, with animals classified as not fed ad-libitum, not providing water ad-libitum, or housed in dirty barns if found without forage, water, or covered in dung up to their knees during three consecutive farm visits. Selected recipients were synchronized, and 127 received frozen-thawed (n = 81) Jersey embryos on day seven post-estrus. These cows were monitored under both station and field conditions. Data analysis using IBM SPSS version 23.0 and Chi-square tests revealed that 93.7% of cows showed clear estrus signs, and 61% were deemed suitable recipients. While barn hygiene significantly influenced recipient synchronization (p = 0.02), ad-libitum feeding and providing water did not affect estrus clarity. Of the 127 recipients, 36.2% became pregnant, with significant positive effects of ad-libitum forage feeding (p < 0.01), providing water (p < 0.01), and barn hygiene (p < 0.01) on pregnancy rates. The findings demonstrate that animal welfare practices, particularly ad-libitum forage feeding, providing water, and barn hygiene, significantly impacted bovine embryo pregnancy rates in Rwanda. These results underscore the importance of improving extension services to train farmers in dairy welfare practices and suggest further research to explore additional factors influencing ET efficiency and overall dairy productivity.