How does sunlight affect the breeding season for minks

Ready-mixed complete wet feed also may be delivered daily or every other day, depending on the season, either in bulk ready-to-feed or frozen blocks that are thawed as required. Mink farmers usually keep one male for every four or five female breeders.

Mink are seasonal breeders, with reproductive activity controlled by increasing daylight. Artificial lights in the sheds must be used with caution because they may adversely affect photoperiod and interfere with the normal reproductive cycle.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the breeding season begins in very late February or early March and lasts about 3 weeks. If fighting ensues, animals should be separated immediately. Ovulation is induced by breeding, and because mink experience delayed implantation, they can normally be rebred a second, third, or even fourth time. The most common schedules are double breedings days 1 and 10 or days 1 and 2 , triple breedings days 1, 10, and 11 , or quadruple breedings days 1, 2, 10, and Ova from two breedings have been known to develop in the same litter, but most kits come from the second, third, or fourth breeding.

The implantation period can be altered by using artificial light after breeding. Mink have one litter each year with 1 to 12 kits average 5. Kits are separated at weaning and often housed in pairs one male and one female, two males, two females, or one male kit with the adult female and occasionally separated into single cages during the growth period.

Although mink have been purpose-bred for more than years, they are not domesticated, and adult mink are very agile, strong, and aggressive. Handling and moving mink requires the use of bite-resistant leather gloves or, preferably, moving crates or cages, which allow animals to be moved between cages without direct handling, minimizing animal stress.

Mink kits are vaccinated after weaning, at or after 8 weeks of age, with a 3- or 4-way vaccine containing Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterin, Clostridium botulinum toxoid, and mink enteritis virus Mink Viral Enteritis Aleutian disease AD , or mink plasmacytosis, is an important disease in mink resulting from infection with Aleutian mink disease virus AMDV. An amdoparvovirus within the family Parvoviridae Artificial lights disrupt this nocturnal activity, interfering with reproduction and reducing populations.

Sea turtles live in the ocean but hatch at night on the beach. Hatchlings find the sea by detecting the bright horizon over the ocean.

Artificial lights draw them away from the ocean. In Florida alone, millions of hatchlings die this way every year. Birds that migrate or hunt at night navigate by moonlight and starlight. Artificial light can cause them to wander off course and toward the dangerous nighttime landscapes of cities.

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Science Coronavirus Coverage How antivirals may change the course of the pandemic. Travel A road trip in Burgundy reveals far more than fine wine. Travel My Hometown In L. Subscriber Exclusive Content. Why are people so dang obsessed with Mars? How viruses shape our world. A study from Aarhus University now shows that there is yet another benefit of breeding confident mink: They have a better fur quality.

The same study also shows that mink behaviour is a more heritable trait than hitherto believed. A high heritability means there is a good chance of increasing this trait in the mink stock. Postdoc Janne Thirstrup from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, has studied the genetic correlations between behaviour and other financially important traits in mink. She found that there is a strong correlation between the quality of the pelt and the confidence exhibited by the mink.

This means it is possible to select for confident mink, explains Janne Thirstrup. By selecting for confidence in mink, the animals will experience less stress when handled and thus achieve better welfare. The handlers will be able to handle the mink without the risk of being bitten and without having to work in a noisy environment because of the minks' loud cries. According to Danish regulations, fearful mink may not be used for breeding for health and welfare reasons. The main goal of breeding mink is to produce pelts of a high quality and good size -- and preferably as many as possible per breeding female.