MINK RAISING 



3 



addressed to the Biological Survey, United States Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



For the central-house system (fig. 3), a building 7 feet high and 

 6 feet wide may be made long enough to accommodate the number of 

 pens required. The dens constructed inside the house should be 

 about 3 feet long, 2 feet wide, and iy 2 feet high, and should have a 

 hinged cover made partly of wire to furnish ventilation. The open- 

 ing through which the minks will have to pass to go from the den to 

 the outside pen should be about 3 inches in diameter or 3 inches 

 square. The entrance should be provided with a sliding door to shut 

 the minks in or out of the pen. 



The outside pen should be about 5 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 2 

 feet high. The pens should be about 1 foot apart to prevent the 

 minks from injuring one another through the wires, but should be 

 connected by chutes so that the animals can be separated or changed 

 from one pen to another as desired. The floor of the outside pen 



B332IM 



Fig. .3. — Interior view of a minkery, showing nest boxes arranged on both sides of a 

 central aisle. (Photograph by J. M. Davis) 



may be made of wood or of a matting of woven wire placed directly 

 on the ground. In either case the floor should be covered with soil 

 2 or 3 inches deep, and this should be changed frequently. The 

 floor should slope gradually away from the main house to provide 

 drainage. The sides and front of the pen should be made of woven 

 wire, 1-inch mesh, 16 gauge. 



The mating season of minks occurs principally during March, and 

 occasionally in the latter part of February. The oestrum, or heat 

 period, occurs once a year. Its length is not definitely 

 Breeding known. The female will accept service only during 

 this period, and as a rule not more than one service is 

 necessary. As many as three females can be mated to one male, but it 

 is host for a beginner to handle the animals in pairs. After he has ac- 

 quired sufficient experience it maybe found advisable to adopt polyga- 

 mous mating. The gestation period is approximately 45 to 50 days, 

 although cases have been known in which the young were carried as 

 long as CO days. The breeder should make every effort to ascertain 



