Processing Methods and Technical Key Points for Fox, Raccoon Dog and Mink Feed

Fur-bearing animals such as mink and foxes have well-developed canine teeth, a short digestive tract, a small stomach volume and no cecum, food passes through the digestive tract quickly, and their digestive glands secrete little amylase but more lipase. Therefore, their feed should be based mainly on animal feed, and in particular animal protein feed should account for a very large proportion of the daily ration. Thus, the feed processing and preparation methods for mink and foxes have distinctive characteristics, which are introduced below:

1. Material selection

　　

Remove large pieces of fat from meat feed, remove the gallbladder and thyroid from livestock and poultry offal, and pick out lumps, impurities or foreign matter from dry animal powder feed and grain powder; remove the roots from vegetables and pick off yellow and rotten leaves. Any feed that is spoiled or comes from epidemic areas must not be used.

2. Washing

　　

Meat, fish, livestock and poultry by-products, and fruit and vegetable feed must be washed with clean water to remove dirt and mud and sand before use. Slightly stale or suspect animal feed must first be disinfected with 0.05%-0.1% potassium permanganate for 5-10 minutes, then washed clean with clean water.

3. Soaking

　　

Fish meal and bone meal should be soaked in clean water for 4-6 hours (change the water 2-3 times), lightly salted dried fish should be soaked for 12 hours (change the water 2-3 times), and alkaline dried fish should be soaked for 1-2 days (change the water 2-3 times each day). Silkworm pupa powder, blood meal and liver residue powder, as well as lower-quality dried fish and dried stomachs, must not only be fully soaked but also steamed and cooked.

4. Steaming and cooking

　　

Low-quality meat, fish and livestock and poultry offal must also be steamed and cooked after potassium permanganate disinfection; freshwater fish should be steamed for 2 hours; pork with measles must be treated under high temperature and high pressure after fat removal; grain powder should be mixed with water to make steamed corn bread and fully steamed, and each kilogram of grain powder can be cooked into 1.8-2 kg of steamed corn bread, or it can be stir-fried into roasted flour and then mixed with boiling water into a thick porridge; fresh cow and sheep milk should be heated for disinfection, and milk powder should be mixed and diluted with boiling water; poultry eggs should be boiled; blood meal should be boiled before feeding, then mixed into the feed; spinach and bok choy should be blanched in boiling water after washing to remove the bitter and astringent taste.

All feed that has undergone heat treatment must be cooled before it can be mixed and prepared.

5. Weighing

According to the feed types and quantities specified in the feed formula sheet, weigh each one separately.

6. Grinding

Grind the feed that needs processing separately with a meat grinder and set aside for use; feed that is too large in volume can be cut into small pieces with a knife before grinding. Hard feed such as rabbit heads and rabbit skeletons should first be crushed with a crusher, then ground once more.

7. Preparation

After the previous processing steps, all feed is gathered in the mixing tank, then dairy products, water (or soybean milk) and other supplementary feed are added according to the regulations.

Medicinal yeast or feed yeast can be added directly; baker's yeast or brewer's yeast needs a small amount of water added, heated to 70°C-80°C and kept there for 10-15 minutes, or it can be mixed with grain powder and steamed into corn bread. Bone meal can be added directly to the feed in the required amount and must not be mixed with yeast, VB1, etc. for feeding; drugs and vitamins should be added last and stirred evenly. The feed should be prepared with an appropriate degree of thickness; feed for nursing females and newly weaned young animals can be slightly thinner. Always keep the feed room clean and hygienic, wash the processing equipment frequently, and disinfect regularly to prevent bacterial infection and the spread of disease.