Fox Feed Formulation Methods and Technical Key Points

The fox is internationally recognized as one of the precious fur-bearing animals, and it is raised in many countries around the world. It is a carnivorous monogastric animal, and feed must be formulated according to its nutritional requirements, feeding standards, and locally available feed conditions. At the same time, attention should be paid to the complementary effects of proteins in various feeds, their physicochemical properties, and so on, in order to improve the nutritional value and utilization rate of the feed.

(1) Daily feed for foxes

1. Animal-based feed: includes various small trash fish, livestock and poultry offal, and various wild small animals such as rats, @#@254@#@, @#@261@#@, frogs, and so on. Dry animal-based feeds such as fish meal, meat-and-bone meal, blood meal, and silkworm pupa meal can also be used. Animal-based feed generally accounts for 45%-65% of the daily ration. Fresh meat and livestock and poultry offal can be washed, crushed, and fed directly; for fish feed, fish with a lot of protein mucus on the body surface (such as @#@237@#@) should first be soaked in hot water to remove the mucus, and dried fish should be soaked to remove salt, washed clean, crushed, and then fed; when processing silkworm pupae, they must be thoroughly soaked to remove residual alkali, steamed, and then crushed together with meat and fish before feeding; earthworms dug out of the soil should be placed in clean water for 1-2 days. After they have excreted the soil in their digestive cavity, wash them again with clean water, cook them, mince them, and feed them.

2. Plant-based feed: includes various grain and oil crops and their by-products. Such as corn meal, sorghum meal, soybean meal, wheat bran, soybean cake, peanut cake, cottonseed cake, and so on. There are also various vegetables, melons and fruits, wild vegetables, and so on. Generally, grain feed accounts for 35%-50% of the daily ration. Fruits and vegetables account for 5%-10%. Grain feed such as corn meal, wheat bran, and soybean cake should be mixed together in proportion and put into a pot, fully cooked, heated to 100°C and kept at that temperature for 5 minutes before feeding. Fruits and vegetables should be washed clean and fed raw.

3. Additive feed: (1) Vitamin feed. The more commonly used ones include cod liver oil, yeast, malt, cottonseed oil, and so on. Cod liver oil is the main source of vitamin A and vitamin D. The cod liver oil supplied for feeding is 800-1000 international units per animal per day. The feeding method is to drip cod liver oil into the food bowl after the food is divided. If liver and sea fish are fed year-round, there is no need to give cod liver oil. @#@245@#@ sprouts are rich in vitamin E and do not contain the minerals phosphorus, calcium, or manganese, but contain a small amount of iron, and are an indispensable feed during the fox's breeding period. Breeding foxes need sufficient vitamin C during pregnancy and lactation, which mainly comes from vegetables. If vitamin C is deficient, the mortality rate of fox cubs is high. (2) Mineral additive feed. Mainly calcium, phosphorus, and sodium chloride. If calcium and phosphorus are insufficient, the development of young foxes is hindered, and they are prone to rickets. Therefore, bone meal and salt need to be supplied year-round. This is especially important for female foxes and growing foxes during the breeding season. Generally, 10-15 grams of bone meal are needed per animal per day. Salt is necessary for animals to maintain normal physiological activity. Generally, 2-3 grams are needed per animal per day. If sea trash fish are used as the main feed in the daily ration, then no salt or less salt should be added to the daily ration. (3) Antibiotic additive feed. Mainly antibiotics made from oxytetracycline. They play a certain role in inhibiting microorganisms and preventing some epidemic diseases, and can also promote growth and increase the survival rate of young foxes.

(2) Daily ration ratios for foxes

There are mainly 2 methods for the daily ration ratios for foxes, namely the calorie ratio method and the weight ratio method. When formulating, it is essential to ensure that the feed is complete in nutrition and fresh.

1. Calorie ratio method: This method calculates based on energy. First determine the proportion of energy contributed by each type of feed within every 0.42 megajoules of energy and the corresponding feed weight. Then, according to the total daily ration energy standard, calculate the total supply amount, and finally recalculate the protein supply amount. For micro-additive feeds that have no energy value or low energy value, they may be omitted from the calculation, and the supply amount may be calculated only according to the number of animals.

2. Weight ratio method: This method calculates according to the weight of the feed. That is, first determine the percentage of each type of feed in the total weight of the daily ration, then calculate the supply amount of each type of feed, and finally recalculate the protein content in the daily ration to check the feasibility of the daily ration. Because this method is simple to calculate and easy to master, it is suitable for use by production farms and specialized households.

It should be noted that these two methods are not essentially different. Practice has verified that the two can be converted into each other, and the conversion ratios are roughly as follows: when animal-based feed on the calorie method is 1, on the weight method it is 0.8; when grain feed on the calorie method is 1, on the weight method it is 0.5; when fruit and vegetable feed on the calorie method is 1, on the weight method it is 0.4.