SILVER-FOX FARMING. 43 
will remain active and show eagerness to eat at meal time. It should 
clean up its feed within 20 minutes and all feed containers should be 
collected one hour after feeding, anything remaining in the dishes 
being destroyed. The amount of feed left in its dish will determine 
whether a particular animal should receive a full portion at the next 
meal. 
During freezing weather it is almost impossible to maintain an 
adequate water supply in the pens, and stews are apt to freeze before 
the foxes can eat them. Every effort should be made to overcome 
these difficulties by the use of the homemade biscuits previously men- 
tioned. Milk is easily provided in winter, as foxes will lick it from 
the pans even though it is frozen. 
Accurate information as to the feed requirements of a ranch fox 
for normal development and reproduction is needed, and to obtain it 
experiments are being conducted by the Honorary Advisory Council 
for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ottawa, Canada, and a pre- 
liminary report has been made thereon by G. Ennis Smith. 10 The 
substance of his report is contained in the following paragraphs: 
While it is not feasible to draw definite conclusion* from experiments of a 
single season and on a limited number of foxes, the influence of certain factors 
is sufficiently apparent to warrant preliminary recommendations regarding 
rations. Experiment:- have been conducted with foxes 2 years old or older 
and the recommendations, therefore, would not apply to yearlings. 
The results thus far obtained tend to indicate that continued overfeeding 
should be avoided, and that so far as quantity goes the most suitable ration 
for a ranch fox is one just a little in excess of the minimum required to 
maintain body weight. Only one period has been found when it is advisable 
to feed larger quantities to adult foxes, and that is to the female when she 
is suckling young. Healthy foxes are seldom indifferent to feed except during 
the breeding season, and, generally speaking, the appetite does not become 
normal until this season is over. When foxes refuse to eat it is better to give 
only one feeding a day until they regain their appetite. It is not necessary to 
have them in too good flesh during the breeding season, but simply in vigorous 
condition. Fat animals are sluggish and will not breed. 
Failure to raise a large majority of the pups whelped is due largely to im- 
properly feeding the vixen during pregnancy, and this may also result in 
rickety pups. Rickets may also be caused by a restricted ration or one deficient 
in protein, mineral material, or other food accessories. It should be borne in 
mind that during pregnancy the vixen is doing the double duty of keeping 
up her own bodily functions and providing for the development of the litter. 
The feeding should be liberal, although not so heavy as after the pups are 
whelped. 
Experiments show that in foxes generally, a well-selected ration only slightly 
above the minimum required to maintain body weight is sufficient to meet the 
•requirements of the pregnant vixen, and that it is very favorable for repro- 
duction. During the experiments the foxes fed snch rations were eager for 
their meals, ate at once, were alert, and appeared to take a great deal of 
exercise. 
For the guidance of fox ranchers the following rations are sug- 
gested by Mr. Smith in his report above referred to. Xos. 1. 2, 3, 
and 4 being recommended chiefly for use during the breeding and 
gestation periods. 
l0 Rept. No. 0, Food Requirements of the Ranch Fox. Ottawa, IOlM. 
