Influence of behavior and conditions on feed costs of young american mink Standard dark brown

Abstract

The study continues the theme of studying the role of environment and behavior in shaping the productivity of caged fur-bearing animals. In the “human-animal” relationship, the advantage of animals with moderately aggressive behavior in the cost of food per unit of body growth during growth and development is shown in pairs and individually. Pair rearing of growing young mink is more expensive than individual rearing since it, as previously shown, is entirely stressful. Under these conditions, the restructuring of behavior in the process of selection of the American mink for a defensive reaction to humans is accompanied by a sharp increase in variability in many traits, in this case, food consumption per unit of body weight gain during the period of growth and development, which, it would seem, are not directly related to behavior. The work was carried out at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences experimental fur farm. The genotypes used in the study were Standard Dark Brown (+/+) mink. The main evaluation criterion is the feed cost per unit of body weight gain. The study found that when kept in mixed-sex pairs, the lowest feed costs were found in males with moderately aggressive behavior (34.80 ± 1.20 g). In the most tame type, the maximum feed consumption per unit of body weight gain is noted (95.60 ± 8.90 g). Food consumption is lower in the most aggressive type than in the tamest behavior (32.30±0.03 and 35.40±1.00 g). Individual keeping of young American mink ensures more efficient use of food in both males and females of aggressive and tame behavior.