Seven Tips for Increasing Mink Farming Efficiency: A Guide to Boosting Your Farming Returns
1. Select good breeding mink. Choose and raise those whose fur is glossy, whose back and belly fur color is uniform, whose guard hairs are relatively short, whose guard hair tips and underfur are even, with high density, uniform distribution, soft fur, good strength, and guard hairs slightly longer than the underfur; sable must have no white guard hairs or white spots. Such mink fur is of good quality and has high commercial value.
2. Do a good job of feeding and management during the breeding period. Mink breed once a year, coming into estrus and mating from February to March each year. Therefore, male breeding mink should enter the preparatory feeding period for breeding in late January. During the breeding period, male breeding mink must be guaranteed a supply of high-quality concentrated feed, with fresh blood, eggs, milk, liver, fish and other animal-based feed accounting for more than 80%, while also adding drugs that nourish yin and strengthen yang - Liuwei Dihuang Wan, epimedium, and vitamin E, B, C, etc. Inbreeding must be eliminated to prevent mink degeneration. For female breeding mink in the late gestation period, a supply of high-quality feed must be guaranteed; when slaughtering animals for feeding, organs containing sex hormones such as the adrenal glands and pituitary gland must be removed, so as to avoid stillbirth or miscarriage after the female mink eats them.
3. Pay attention to keeping warm to increase the survival rate of newborn mink. After newborn mink are born, hot water bags should be placed above, below and on both sides of the birthing box to keep them warm, so as to increase the survival rate of the newborn mink.
4. Prevent disease. Generally, during the period of fastest growth and development of young mink (July and August), when temperatures are high, air humidity is high, and feed is prone to spoilage, mink are highly susceptible to digestive tract diseases. Fresh purslane, Patrinia scabiosaefolia, plantain seed, Viola philippica, dandelion and other Chinese herbal medicines should be dug up and added to the feed. This can not only reduce feed costs, but also prevent heatstroke and prevent infectious diseases of the digestive tract such as enteritis and dysentery. In June and July, vaccinations against canine distemper, paratyphoid and Pasteurella, etc. should be given to prevent infectious diseases. The injection site for vaccination is on the inner side of the hind thigh.
5. Use substitute foods. In order to reduce costs, soybean powder and peanut cake can be used to replace part of the meat feed, and sweet potato vines can replace part of the vegetables, mixed with fresh pig blood, eggs and milk to enhance palatability.
6. Strengthen nutrition during the molting period. At the time of the Autumn Equinox, mink enter the molting period; this is the key period for improving fur quality. Besides feeding high-quality concentrated feed, vegetable oil (soybean oil or peanut oil, etc.) and vitamin B2 should also be added to the feed, 10 milligrams per mink per day.
7. Take the pelt when mature. Mink can be slaughtered for pelt removal after molting. When taking pelts, take them one at a time as each one matures; never take pelts from a whole batch at once. When slaughtering, pay attention to keeping the fur intact, and never cut or tear the pelt, otherwise the pelt grade will be lowered.