Techniques for Achieving High Reproductive Yields in Mink Farming

Selection and retention of breeding mink: Every November, select and retain breeding mink according to plan. Choose mink with good breed quality, large body size of over 2000 grams, and slightly better fur, at a male-to-female ratio of 1:3, and raise them separately. To ensure the quality of the offspring, carry out vaccination once every December. Pre-mating vaccination:

First, to prevent canine distemper, inject subcutaneously with attenuated mink canine distemper vaccine, 1 milliliter per animal, with an immunity period of 6 months.

Second, to prevent viral enteritis, use tissue-culture inactivated mink viral enteritis vaccine, inject subcutaneously 1 milliliter per mink, with an immunity period of 6 months. When injecting, it is best to use one needle per mink to prevent transmission through injection. Pre-mating nutritional matching: From the winter solstice season, begin increasing sunlight exposure. Only then do the reproductive organs of mink begin to develop. The scrotum of male mink visibly droops, the testes significantly enlarge, and sperm begin to develop. In female mink, the number of primordial follicles in the ovaries increases, the follicles also significantly enlarge, and the uterine body enlarges and thickens. Therefore, nutritional matching must keep up with physiological needs. In addition to ensuring animal protein and plant protein, it is also necessary to increase vitamins, especially fat-soluble vitamins such as VA and VE. VE tablets, carrots or peanut oil, and VC tablets can be added to the feed to promote normal development of the reproductive organs.

Seize the timing of estrus: (1) The estrus period of male mink is from January to March. Normal male mink always maintain courtship behavior and are interested in female mink. After the spring equinox, when sunlight exceeds 12 hours, the testes begin to shrink and degenerate.

(2) Female mink can have 2-4 estrous cycles. A cycle can be divided into 4 stages, namely proestrus, estrus, and anestrus. Each cycle is about 6 days-10 days, the duration is 1 day?3 days, and anestrus is 5 days-6 days. During anestrus, there are no mature follicles in the ovaries of female mink, and they do not accept mating; forced mating will not result in conception. Therefore, it is extremely important to seize the observation of the estrus period. After mating, perform re-mating during the peak mating period or cyclical re-mating to ensure a high conception rate.

Seize the mating dates: (1) Late February to early March is the peak mating period for most mink. Mating dates should be arranged according to the number of male mink.

(2) Most female mink should be mated for the first time, that is, mated during the first estrous period. From mating to the peak mating period is about 5 days?7 days. At the same time, train young male mink to participate in mating, and conduct semen quality assessment to select breeding mink of excellent quality.

(3) During the peak mating period of about 10 days to 12 days, give first-mated female mink one re-mating, and end the mating period.

(4) For female mink that were first-mated but did not conceive, adopt supplementary mating. The supplementary mating stage is about 5 days after the end of the peak mating period. For female mink that still show estrous behavior and are suspected of not being pregnant or of false mating, supplementary mating can be carried out during this period, using a continuous supplementary mating method, that is, mating once more after an interval of one day following the first mating. This ensures that every female mink conceives and has a high litter rate.