Influence of endometritis, cow- and herd-levels factors on milk yield and reproductive performance of zero-grazed dairy cows on smallholder farms in Rwanda

Abstract

Suboptimal milk production and reproductive performance manifest in postpartum dairy cows likely reflect associations with the characteristics of the dairy herd management conditions and endometritis infection. The hypothesis was that endometritis, cow- and herd-levels variables, and the combination of all these variables are associated with suboptimal milk yield and reproductive performance of postpartum zero-grazed dairy cows managed on smallholder farms. This research was conducted in Gasabo district, Rwanda, to the smallholder dairy farmers from September 2018 to August 2019. The survey was used to collect the data from 370 farms on 466 cows, sampled by snowball technique. Regression models and the general linear model were used in the analysis. The results showed that in a decreasing magnitude, the milk yield was predicted by cow breed [regression coefficient (β): −2.6, p