Feeding and Management Methods for Mink During the Growing Period of Young Mink

I. Characteristics of the Nutritional Requirements of Young Mink. Mink kits are weaned at 40-50 days of age, transition to feeding on feed, and remain in the growing period until the end of September. This is the young mink stage, after which they enter the pre-breeding period or the molting period. During the growing period, because nutrients and energy accumulate in the body in a state of dynamic equilibrium, the body's tissue cells increase rapidly in number, and young mink grow and develop quickly, especially during the 40-80 day period, which is the stage of fastest growth and development.

At this time, the metabolism of young mink is extremely vigorous, with anabolism exceeding catabolism, and protein metabolism is in a positive balance, meaning that the total amount of nitrogen intake is greater than the total amount of nitrogen excreted. Therefore, the requirements for various nutrients, especially protein, minerals and vitamins, are extremely urgent. II. Feeding of Young Mink. According to the nutritional requirements of young mink, the daily dietary energy standard is 836.8-1171.52 kilojoules, animal feed should account for about 75%, composed of fish, livestock and poultry offal and by-products, fish meal, pellet feed, etc., grain feed may account for 20%-23%, vegetables may account for 1%-2% or may not be fed, and vitamin and trace element additives should also be added. Feed 0.5-0.75 grams per animal per day, or supplement with 0.5-1 gram of cod liver oil, 4-5 grams of yeast, 0.5-1 gram of bone meal, 2.5 milligrams of vitamin E, and 0.5 gram of feed-grade oxytetracycline. The growing period coincides with the scorching heat of midsummer, so it is essential to strictly prevent various diseases in mink caused by eating spoiled feed. Therefore, in addition to ensuring feed quality at every stage including purchasing, transportation, storage and processing, a reasonable feeding system is also necessary. At this time, feed generally 3 times a day, and the interval between morning and evening feedings should be as long as possible. Ensure that the feed is finished within 1 hour after each feeding; if it is not finished, the food bowl should also be removed as early as possible. This is an effective measure to reduce the occurrence of disease and lower the mortality rate during the growing period. After the nutritional depletion of pregnancy, birthing and lactation, the physical condition of female mink generally declines, and some female mink have become emaciated and developed lactation syndrome. Therefore, 10-20 days after weaning, they should still be fed according to the daily dietary standard for the lactation period. For female mink suffering from lactation syndrome, 0.4%-0.5% salt should be added to the feed, along with liver, yeast, iron-copper preparations, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and folic acid, so that they can recover their physical condition as quickly as possible. Otherwise, the summer mortality rate of female mink will increase, and the following year's reproduction will also be adversely affected. III. Management of Young Mink. (1) Weaning and Grouping. Kits should be weaned and grouped promptly at 40-45 days after birth; weaning earlier or later is beneficial neither to the female mink nor to the kits. Before weaning, preparatory work such as construction, inspection and repair, cleaning, disinfection and bedding of cages and sheds should be done well. The weaning method is to wean the entire litter at once, keeping 2-3 mink of the same sex in the same cage or shed, and after 7-10 days they are separated into individual cages for rearing. The quality of feeding and management during the growing period of young mink can be judged by regular weighing. (2) Do a Good Job in Sanitation and Epidemic Prevention. During the growing period, every effort should be made to prevent mink from eating spoiled feed. Feed processing tools and feeding and drinking utensils should be scrubbed daily and disinfected regularly, and sanitation in the feed room and mink shed should be well maintained. Ants, flies and rats should be eliminated as much as possible to prevent diseases such as gastroenteritis, diarrhea, steatitis and poisoning. Provide sufficient drinking water in a timely manner, promptly wake up mink sleeping in the sun, and strengthen ventilation to prevent heatstroke. (3) Vaccination. For susceptible infectious diseases such as canine distemper and viral enteritis, single-vaccine preventive inoculation must be carried out, and one must never take chances.