Mink Farming Methods and Key Points of Breeding Management Techniques

The mink is a special-purpose livestock raised mainly for fur production. Wild mink mostly live in caves or forest streams near water. Most mink on the market today are farmed, and wild mink may not be hunted at will. The price of mink fur is closely related to its size and color, among other factors. So today let us learn how mink are raised.

1. Farm Construction

Before farming, we need to make sufficient preparations, the most important of which is building the farm. The farm is mainly used to keep mink cool in summer and protect them from the cold. We need to build a separate shed, and then inside the shed build cages at a ratio of 30 square cm in length, height and width. To make full use of the shed space, we can make the cages double-layered, so that more mink can be raised. After the farm is completed, it must be thoroughly disinfected before mink can be put in.

2. Selection of Breeding Mink

Since mink are not very numerous now, and many farmers do not know much about mink themselves, they are often cheated when buying breeding mink. So here I will teach you a little trick to identify good breeding mink. First, we must carefully observe the coat color of the breeding mink to see whether it is glossy, and also check whether its fur is relatively smooth. Second, observe its body shape, whether the hindquarters are relatively wide, whether the nose and ears are pink, and whether the limbs are sturdy and strong. Finally, check whether the tail is healthy. If all the standards are met, you can go ahead and buy it.

3. Feeding Management

The mink is an omnivorous animal, so during feeding it needs both enough concentrated feed and an appropriate amount of roughage. The feed ingredients include meat, fish, milk, eggs, grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as some other supplementary animal feed. At the same time, we should formulate rations reasonably according to the different growth stages of the mink. In its early growth stage, concentrated feed is still the main part, and it is enough to feed a moderate amount of foods such as vegetable leaves, but a balanced nutrition must be maintained. Finally, the feed must be kept clean, hygienic and healthy, and when necessary the food needs to be disinfected before it is fed.

4. Daily Management

Daily management also differs somewhat at different stages of the mink's life. In the early stage of its life, we mainly clean up the feces and food residue in the farm. In the middle stage of its life, molting occurs, so the shed hair must be cleaned up promptly, otherwise there will be a lot of bacteria. During its mating period, in addition to the issues we handled before, we need to pay special attention to the management of indoor temperature and humidity. During the gestation period, we also need to pay attention to an appropriate amount of exercise, and for newborn mink we also need to pay attention to factors such as lighting.

5. Pest and Disease Control

The main parasites of mink are parasites, so we should deworm them at irregular intervals. Secondly, during their growth period, diseases such as yellow fat disease, Aleutian disease and canine distemper may also occur. So in our daily feeding process, we can add an appropriate amount of disease-preventing medication for prevention and control, and we can also inject vaccines at irregular intervals.