What does the king of furs, the mink, eat to grow up: vegetables, feed, or meat?

Mink fur is a relatively expensive type of fur in China, known abroad as "soft gold." Because there are few areas in China where it is farmed, many people raise them artificially to make money, but to raise mink well, you need to understand the mink's living habits. So what does a mink eat to grow up? Feed or meat?

Mink are carnivores, fond of eating fish, shrimp, frogs, snakes, wild rats, wild rabbits, birds and other poultry. Except during mating and lactation, they mostly live alone and scattered. Of course, farmers can also mix their own feed to raise them.

Mink feed ratios:

Mink feed includes animal-based feed, plant-based feed, vitamins and minerals. Animal-based feed includes livestock and poultry meat, fish, dairy, eggs, silkworm pupae and other small animals. Plant-based feed includes grains, beans, and fruits and vegetables. Vitamin feed usually refers to cod liver oil, VE, VB, VC, etc. Mineral feed mostly refers to bone meal, salt, etc.

During the mink breeding period, animal-based feed is required to be no less than 60%. During the growing period of commercial mink and the non-breeding period of breeding mink, animal-based feed can be appropriately reduced and plant-based feed appropriately increased. Daily ration preparation: taking a breeding female mink in mid-gestation as an example, the total daily ration per animal is 300 grams, containing about 30 grams of digestible protein. Daily ration formula: meat 15%, milk and eggs 10%, grains 10%, vegetables 15%, water 15%. Calculate the weight of each feed according to the above daily ration proportions.

Calculate the total amount of each feed according to the number you raise. After weighing the total amount, begin processing. Fresh meat, fresh fish and by-products must be washed clean, removing excess fat. Frozen fish and frozen meat should have fat and dirt removed after thawing. For not-fresh animal-based feed, soak in 0.1% potassium permanganate solution for disinfection, then wash and process; generally it should be cooked before feeding to prevent disease. Meat meal, fish meal, bone and meat residue, silkworm pupae, etc. need to be soaked in clean water for 4-6 hours, and after softening, mixed with grain flour to make steamed cornbread, then mashed into a paste to feed the mink. Cow and sheep milk must be boiled for disinfection before mixing into the feed. Eggs should be beaten evenly with water, steamed into a soft cake form and mixed into the feed. Vegetables should have debris removed, be washed clean, beaten into a pulp and mixed into the feed.

I. Animal-based feed

1. Meat feed

Meat feed is an important source of complete-protein feed. It contains essential amino acids in quantities and proportions similar to the mink's body, and also contains fat, vitamins and minerals. There are many kinds of meat feed with good palatability; the meat of various animals can be used as long as it is fresh, disease-free and non-toxic.

Meat feed can account for 15%-20% of the daily ration, and at most no more than 50% of the animal-based feed. When using meat feed, it must undergo hygiene quarantine; disease-free meat can be fed raw, usable diseased livestock and poultry meat or contaminated meat must be treated harmlessly at high temperature before consumption, and unusable meat should be prohibited from consumption. In addition to high-temperature and high-pressure treatment, pork with measles should have part of its fat removed as much as possible. At the same time, increase the amount of vitamin E fed, and pair it with a certain proportion of low-fat small miscellaneous fish, rabbit heads, rabbit skeletons or fish meal, etc.

Meat has relatively high nutritional value, but the price is also relatively high, so it should be used reasonably. During the breeding period and the growth period of young animals, the proportion of meat feed can be appropriately increased to improve the biological value of protein in the daily ration.

2. Meat by-products

Meat by-products include the heads, skeletons, internal organs and blood of livestock and poultry, and have been widely used in production practice. Except for liver, heart, kidney and blood, these products have lower protein digestibility and biological value. Therefore, the amount of these by-products used to feed mink should be appropriate, and attention should be paid to pairing them with other feeds. During the breeding period, do not feed by-products containing hormones. Meat by-products generally account for 30%-40% of animal-based feed.

3. Dairy

Dairy feed is one of the sources of complete protein for mink, and is generally used only during the breeding period and the growth period of young mink; it has a good promoting effect on female mink lactation and young mink growth and development. During gestation, generally 30-40 grams of fresh milk can be fed per day, and at most no more than 50-60 grams; in other periods, 15-20 grams can be given. Fresh milk must be heat-treated when used; generally heating at 70-80°C for 15 minutes is sufficient. If there is no fresh milk, whole milk powder can be used as a substitute.

4. Egg feed

The eggs of various poultry and bird eggs are all feed with relatively high biological value, and the effect of using them during the breeding period is better. Egg feed should be fed cooked; otherwise, due to the presence of avidin, mink will develop dermatitis, hair loss and other symptoms. During the preparation period for mating, the amount per male mink is 10-20 grams, which can improve semen quality. Giving 20-30 grams of fresh eggs in the daily ration of pregnant and lactating female mink is not only beneficial to embryonic development and improving the vitality of newborn mink, but also promotes milk secretion.

5. Fish feed

Fish feed is one of the important sources of animal protein for mink, with extensive resources and low price. There are many kinds of fish, which can be broadly divided into marine miscellaneous fish and freshwater fish. Except for the toxic pufferfish, these fish can all be used as mink feed.

Fresh marine miscellaneous fish can be fed raw; this way palatability is strong and protein digestibility is high. Slightly spoiled marine miscellaneous fish need to be steamed and disinfected before being fed cooked. A small number of marine miscellaneous fish and most freshwater fish contain thiaminase, which destroys vitamin B1 (thiamine), and feeding them raw often causes vitamin B1 deficiency, so they should also be steamed and fed cooked.

When the mink daily ration uses fish entirely as the animal-based feed, it can account for 70%-75% of the daily ration weight, and multiple kinds of fish should be mixed for feeding, while also paying attention to the supply of vitamin B1 and vitamin E to ensure good production results. If fish, meat and by-products are paired, fish can account for 40%-50% of the animal-based feed. Fish feed has a relatively high content of unsaturated fatty acids and is very prone to oxidative rancidity, and fish protein also spoils very easily. The proportions and contents of certain essential amino acids are also obviously different from meat, so the effect of raising mink entirely with fish is not as good as mixing fish and meat; especially when the fish variety is too single, the effect is even worse.

6. Dry animal-based feed

Commonly used dry animal-based feeds include fish meal, dried fish, blood meal and feather meal, etc.

Fish meal contains 40%-60% protein and 2.5%-4% salt. When using fresh high-quality fish meal to feed mink, during the growth period of young animals it accounts for 20%-25% of animal protein in the daily ration, and during the non-breeding period it accounts for 40%-45% of animal protein. Fish meal has a high salt content, so it must be thoroughly soaked in clean water before use. During soaking, change the water 2-3 times.

Dried fish: the key to raising mink with dried fish lies in the quality of the dried fish. High-quality dried fish can account for 70%-75% of the animal-based feed in the daily ration, but during the mink breeding period, it must be paired with 25%-30% complete-protein feed (fresh meat, eggs, milk and pig liver, etc.). During the growing period of young mink and the winter fur growth period, it must be paired with fresh pork with measles or added vegetable oil to make up for the lack of fat in dried fish.

Blood meal contains more than 80% protein, among which lysine, methionine, arginine and cystine are relatively abundant, and it has a good effect on the growth of young mink and fur growth. Good-quality blood meal can be fed to mink, but it is not easy to digest, so the amount used should not be too high; generally it accounts for 20%-25% of the animal feed in the daily ration. When feeding, the amount should be gradually increased, and after steaming treatment it should be paired with other feeds.

Feather meal: the protein in feather meal is rich in cystine, which has a good effect on the formation of winter fur in mink. One month before the spring and autumn molts, adding 2-3 grams of feather meal to the daily ration for 3 consecutive months has the effect of alleviating self-biting disorder and fur-eating disorder. Feather meal should be mixed with grain feed, steamed and fed.

II. Plant-based feed

The plant feed for mink includes grains, cakes (meals), fruits and vegetables, etc., which can provide mink with abundant carbohydrates and various vitamins.

Grain feed generally accounts for 10%-15% of the mink's daily ration weight, mainly composed of corn, soybeans, barley and by-products. Among them, beans generally account for 20%-30% of the grains in the daily ration; too large a feeding amount easily causes indigestion. In practice, the mixing ratio of soybean flour to corn flour to wheat flour is 1:2:1. Processing soybeans into soybean milk to replace dairy feed also has a relatively good effect. Grains should be fed cooked; moldy and spoiled grains easily cause aflatoxin poisoning in mink and are strictly prohibited from being fed. The feed is rich in protein, but the mink's digestibility of it is low, so the proportion in the daily ration should not be too large, generally no more than 20% of the grains, otherwise it will cause indigestion and diarrhea.

Common vegetables in fruit and vegetable feed include Chinese cabbage, cabbage, rapeseed, carrots, spinach, etc. Vegetables are rich in vitamins and are the main source of vitamins E, K and C. Vegetables generally account for 10%-15% of the total daily ration. When using them, it is best to pair two or more kinds of vegetables, and at the same time pay attention to their freshness; rotten vegetables contain nitrite, and feeding them can cause nitrite poisoning in mink. Vegetables sprayed with pesticides must not be fed until the pesticide effect has disappeared. Unrotted melons and fruits can also replace part of the vegetables.

III. Additive feed

Vitamin and mineral additives can supplement the deficiency of vitamins A, B, C and E and calcium, phosphorus and trace elements in the feed. They play an important role in ensuring the nutritional needs of mink and promoting normal growth and reproduction, and should be supplied year-round. During the breeding period, the feeding amount can be increased according to circumstances.

Antibiotics and antioxidants play an important role in inhibiting harmful microorganisms and preventing feed spoilage. Using them in summer and during the growth period of young mink can prevent gastroenteritis and promote the growth and development of young mink.