Growing mink as a business. Mink breeding

Large-scale breeding of mink began in the 20th century due to the great demand for the valuable fur of this animal. Breeds of mink with a variety of colors were bred: blue, white, spotted, pastel, and the size of the cellular mink increased significantly compared to the wild one. There is a difference between European and American mink. In fur farms, the American is bred, since its fur is much more beautiful, and it itself is much larger than the European one: the body length of the male is 40-50 centimeters, the female is 30-45 centimeters. The American mink has successfully acclimatized in Russia.

Fur farms that specialize in breeding mink are engaged in a labor-intensive business that requires a large start-up investment, but is profitable, which makes the mink one of the most popular animals raised in fur farms.

Activities for breeding breeding animals, as well as for the production and use of breeding products are licensed. The licensing authority is the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation. The applicant provides the following documents:

a statement indicating the licensed activity that the applicant intends to carry out,
copies of constituent documents and a document confirming the fact of making an entry about the legal entity in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities,
a copy of the certificate of state registration of the applicant as an individual entrepreneur,
a copy of the certificate of registration of the applicant with the tax authority,
a document confirming the payment of the license fee for consideration of an application for a license,
copies of documents confirming the qualifications of an individual entrepreneur and specialists of a legal entity who carry out work on breeding breeding animals in accordance with the licensing requirements and conditions.

A fur farm must comply with a number of licensing requirements. First, breeding animals must meet the requirements of the breed standard. The breeder must have documents confirming the origin and assessment of the breeding and productive qualities of animals. Secondly, it is necessary to carry out an annual appraisal of breeding animals. Bonitation is a comprehensive assessment of animals by origin, exterior, productivity, reproductive ability and quality of offspring. Thirdly, an individual entrepreneur must have the education of a zoo engineer or livestock specialist. If there is no necessary professional education, then you should register as an LLC and issue a specialist with a zootechnical education as a deputy head. Persons carrying out work on breeding breeding animals must also have the appropriate education. A licensed fur farm is obliged to comply with veterinary and sanitary and hygienic standards and rules for keeping animals. The norms of technological design of fur farms can be found at this address http://www.gosthelp.ru/text/NTPAPK1100600200Normytexn.html.
Within 60 days from the date of submission of the application and documents, the licensing authority decides whether to grant a license or refuse to grant a license. The license is issued for a period of five years. Once every two years, scheduled inspections of compliance with license requirements may be carried out.

For the construction of the farm, you should choose a flat, dry area, protected from winds and snow drifts. The temperature conditions of the middle zone and the climate of coastal areas are most suitable for minks. If in summer the temperature rises above 30 degrees, then it is worth equipping an air cooling system. The farm must be provided with water and electricity. An important condition for the profitability of livestock farming is the presence of a local forage base nearby, which is meat and fish processing enterprises.

The fur farm must be separated by a sanitary zone of at least 300 meters from the residential area. The distance to the road is 25-30 meters. In addition, measures should be taken to prevent minks from leaving the farm. To do this, the farm is surrounded by a high fence, a visor is made on top of the fence from the side of the farm. The lower part of the fence is dug into the ground by at least 30 centimeters.

Three types of buildings are being erected on the farm: premises for people, storage rooms and premises for keeping minks. Animals are housed in cages with raised floors above the ground. Adults are kept individually. The cages are installed under a gable canopy called a shed. Shed is electrified and provided with water supply. Sheds are usually rectangular in shape, with cages on the sides of the longitudinal passage. Such a device makes the process of feeding and cleaning manure convenient, and, if necessary, makes it possible to automate this process. The shed is covered with a net, burying it 30 centimeters so that the animals do not dig through the walls. The roof is made of corrugated asbestos-cement sheets, covered with roofing material placed on a wooden grate. The floor in the aisles is made of concrete, the subfloor is left unpaved, as the soil absorbs urine. The width of the passage is at least 117 centimeters. In the cages there are hanging houses and a territory for walking, drinking bowls are equipped. It is important to use the right material for building cages. Usually cages are made of a metal galvanized grid. The mesh of black non-galvanized wire rusts and leaves a coating on animal hair.

Adults are kept in cages one at a time, working young animals - two at a time. For the normal growth of the mink, it is necessary to provide the animal with a territory of at least 5.25 square meters. Breeding young are kept in a ratio of three females and one male per cage. The standard hexagon mesh has a mesh clearance of 25 millimeters. Through holes of this size, a puppy up to two weeks old freely falls out, therefore insertable birth mats with a finer mesh are inserted into the cages of females.

In a building intended for people, in addition to a room for rest and eating, it is necessary to provide a room for storing documents, a room for examining animals by a veterinarian, a room for the primary processing of skins, a room with refrigerators.

To ensure fire safety, there should be a distance of 8 meters between buildings and sheds, as well as between groups of sheds. Sheds are arranged in parallel rows.

A typical project of a fur farm designed for keeping 10,880 females, 2,160 males and 54,400 young animals involves the construction of 40 sheds 90 meters long for the main herd and 40 pancake sheds 120 meters long for young animals. Of course, novice farmers do not consider such figures. To open a small farm, it is enough to buy 1000 minks, build and equip premises. This will require about 20 million rubles.

There are about 340 different types of mink coloring in the world; animals of the following color forms are most often bred in fur farms.

Standard dark brown - the main type of mink, occupies a leading position in terms of the number of individuals. From it, by crossing, various color variants were obtained.
The black mink, also known as the jet, is a dominant mutation that originated in Canada. This is a rare type of mink. Fertility 4-5 puppies.
Silver blue mink is a fairly common type of colored mink. Fertility 6-7 puppies, the survival rate of the offspring is more than 90 percent.
The sapphire mink is the result of crossing the Aleutian mink with the silver-blue one. Smoky blue color. Fertility is 5-6 puppies, the survival rate of the offspring is 87%.
Pastel - mink color from light brown to blue-brown, sometimes with a chocolate tint. Fertility - 6 puppies, offspring survival up to 90%
The American Palomino is a mink with a light beige to dark beige coat color. Minks with a yellow and orange tint on the back and contrasting coloration of the covering and downy hairs are culled. Animals of this breed are quite large in size and are characterized by high fecundity.

Mink for breeding can be purchased from breeders. The average price of an adult is 14 thousand rubles. A three-month-old mink puppy costs 10,000 rubles.

For one adult animal, at least 30 kilograms of bedding material should be prepared per year. Straw from awnless cereals, hay or small wood shavings are used as bedding. The bedding is changed as it gets dirty. Rodent-damaged or rotting material is not suitable for use.

In no case should you try to save money on mink feed. Everything that the animal does not receive in terms of food will be reflected in the coat. The use of high-quality and balanced food, vitamins will help in the end to get the most valuable fur of extraordinary beauty. 70% of the beauty of the fur is the quality of the feed. Minks are fed with meat, fish, grain, compound feed, fish, bone or meat meal, milk and dairy products, succulent feed, fodder yeast, sprat, cake, fish or combined fats. Animal products account for 70 percent of a mink's daily diet. From vegetable feed, oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, millet, pea, sunflower meal, soybean, flaxseed, carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, grain vegetables and berries, cabbage, tomatoes are fed. In spring and summer, green onions, young grass, tops of root crops are added. Vegetables are finely chopped or ground in a mixture with other feeds. For the normal development of minks, their diet also includes table salt, bone meal, and vitamins. Succulent feeds make up 2-3% of the calorie content of the diet. If minks only eat meat, fish and vitamin preparations, then vegetables can be excluded from their diet without causing any damage to development and growth. If the diet is dominated by dry food with a high fat content, then vegetables are necessary. Liver is often used as a vitamin feed, as it is rich in vitamins A and B, iron and copper. The liver is recommended to be fed before the rut, during pregnancy and lactation, and it is also fed to lagging young animals. The amount of liver - no more than 10 g per individual per day. When fattening a mink, the main task is to get the animal to eat as much as possible. This is done by developing high energy diets in a small amount of food. One adult mink consumes 0.5 liters of water per day, young animals - 0.7 liters.

The mink gives birth once a year, in spring. Animals are ready for breeding at the age of 10-11 months. Mating takes place in March, whelping in late April or early May. The number of puppies is from 5 to 12. About 10-20% of the offspring die, and 10% of the females do not give offspring at all. Young animals are weaned from the female at about the age of 40 days.

As a rule, fur farms harvest raw skins, since dressing requires expensive equipment and professional craftsmen. Skins can be sold raw, after drying and salt treatment. However, the cost of raw skins is low - about 150 rubles per square decimeter. Farmers prefer to order dressing from enterprises. The cost of dressing one skin is 200 rubles.

One factory-made skin costs about 3.5 thousand rubles. The cost of production is 1.5 - 2 thousand rubles.

The main clients of fur producers are domestic fur factories and foreign buyers. China is buying up huge quantities of fur. Skins are sold on stock exchanges or fur auctions.

Fur auctions are regularly held around the world.

Russian fur auction - Soyuzpushnina. Saint Petersburg. The only fur auction in Russia. http://www.sojuzpushnina.ru/ru/s/2/
Copenhagen fur auction "Kopenhagen Fur". Denmark, Copenhagen. The most famous and largest auction in the world. The main commodity is mink. It sets the average world prices for mink. http://www.kopenhagenfur.com/
Finnish fur auction - "Saga Furs". Finland, Helsinki. The second largest auction in the world. The main commodity is the fox and arctic fox. Mink is also for sale, mainly Finnish and Scandinavian. http://www.sagafurs.com/en/
North American Fur Auctions (NAFA). Canada, Toronto. Third largest auction. This auction sells American and European mink. http://www.nafa.ca/
Seattle Fur Auction American Legend Cooperative. USA, Seattle. The fourth largest auction. The main commodity is American mink.

Mink breeding as a business. Farm for growing and breeding minks. A mink farm can be built on your own personal plot without any special expenses, profit from the sale of fur skins can be obtained in the first year of growing minks.

Mink is a predator of the mustelid family, has an elongated body and smooth, short, soft, thick fur. Minks come in various colors, most often black, white, sapphire, blue, red, jaguar and leopard. Minks are bred on an industrial scale and at home; these animals can live and breed in captivity.

The canopy protects the animals from the sun and rain,

at the same time, minks are constantly outdoors.

Frosty winters are not terrible for animals, they are protected by thick fur. Under natural conditions, these animals live in burrows, so houses are installed in cages for them, which are a box with a hole for entry. A tray, a drinking bowl, a feeder are installed in the cage

Breeding and cultivation of minks.

The mating period of minks begins in early March, on these days the male is placed in a cage with the female 2 times a day for 2 to 3 hours. One male can usually cover up to 3 females per day. Pregnancy of females lasts an average of 1.5 - 2 months, a female can bring from 1 to 16 puppies in a litter, more often 5 - 7. It is believed that a female can fully feed no more than 6 cubs with milk, so if there is another female with a small litter, then Some of the puppies are placed next to her. The female puppies in a house, which is placed in a cage; you should first put a bed of dry hay in the house.

Mink babies are born blind, their eyes open after 4 weeks. The first days puppies eat only mother's milk, from 3 weeks of age they begin to eat food brought by their mother. At the age of 1.5 months, the puppies are separated from their mother, the entire brood is placed in one cage, later, as they grow, the young are seated separately in cages, this is due to the fact that the minks often fight among themselves.

The slaughter of minks intended for skinning begins in November, first of all, white minks go for skinning, then blue and brown groups and at the very end of the standard color. Slaughter should be carried out on time in time, this is due to a change in the quality and color of the fur during this period.

Mink feeding.

The mink is a predator, in the wild it feeds mainly on small rodents, birds and fish, so the basis of the diet should be food of animal origin. Mink farms have their own feed kitchens where feed is prepared. Mink food is a mixture of minced meat and fish waste with the addition of porridge, eggs and premixes.

For the preparation of feed, small fish, meat waste, offal of poultry, geese, ducks, and chickens are used. On fur farms from waste, chicken giblets from poultry farms are often used, slaughtered into minced meat with the addition of premixes.

Some fur farms also use regular laboratory mice as feed, which are raised to feed minks.

Owners of home mink farms buy small sprat, fish waste, expired fish at a low price at fish bases. Fish food should be no more than - 40% of the total diet.

As an additional feeding, you can use dairy products.

Mink breeding as a business.

If you want to start growing and breeding mink, the first thing to start with is to look for cheap feed. A business is worth starting if it is possible to get food at a poultry farm, a fish base. Most of the owners of small domestic mini-mink farms are also engaged in the cultivation of poultry - chickens, geese, ducks. When poultry is slaughtered, offal is fed to animals. Access to cheap feed is the backbone of a successful mink business.

The next step will be building a shad, making cages and purchasing animals.

Cells are usually made independently from a metal fine mesh.

Scheme for making cells.

Mink can be purchased at fur farms, at a price of $80 - $150 per animal. It should be remembered that moving is stressful for animals, therefore it is not recommended to buy pregnant females, they endure the move the most restlessly and may lose offspring. The best option would be to buy young animals in the summer or older individuals by autumn. During the winter, the minks will get used to the new place of residence and in March they will be completely ready for mating.

Farm for growing and breeding mink: profit.

The main income from the farm comes from the sale of fur skins and from the sale of minks for brood.

The wrought skins are purchased by private traders engaged in tailoring fur products.

The cost of mink fur skins depends on the quality of the dressing of the skin, on the quality of the fur, and also on the color, the most expensive white, black and gray, red and brown are less valued. The approximate price of good skins is from $50 to $200. For example, for sewing a women's fur coat, you will need 25 - 30 skins, sewing a fur coat will cost 2 - 3 times cheaper than buying in a store.

You can also get a good profit from the sale of minks for brood, the cost of one animal is about $ 100.

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First you need to register an individual entrepreneur or LLC with codes OKVED: 01.49.- Breeding of other animals, 01.49.2. - "Breeding rabbits and other fur-bearing animals on farms."

To grow fur-bearing animals on your farm, you need to get a license from the Ministry of Agriculture. It is issued for five years.. When buying breeding animals, ask for certificates of origin and assessment of the quality of the livestock.

The best mink breeds for breeding

The most valuable and popular types of fur color: silver-blue, dark brown (one of the most common), sapphire, black (rare variety), pastel.

Fur of females is considered more valuable. The most expensive colors are white and gray, black, red, palomino, cross.

Buying minks

It is best to acquire young animals at the age of 5-6 months, by the 9-10th month they reach puberty and begin to multiply. In order to get about 200 heads at the end of the year, it is necessary to have 40 females and 6 males.

The price at which you can buy a live mink for breeding, ranges from $ 60-90 per individual. In total, the purchase of young animals will take $ 3000-3500.

Where to buy mink for breeding in Russia by region?

1. In the Central Federal District. Well-known farms are Savvatyevo (the village of Savvatyevo in the Tver region), Russian Sable (the village of Zverosovkhoz in the Moscow region), Saltykovsky Breeding Animal Farm (Balashikha in the Moscow region), Mermerins (Tver region);

2. Ural: Marble Animal Farm (the village of Marmorskoe in the Sverdlovsk Region);

3. Siberia: Bolsherechensk fur farm near Irkutsk, "Siberian Fur Company" (Novosibirsk);

4. Far East: Animal farm Valentinovskoe (Valentin village in Primorsky Krai);

5. SFD: Ladoga fur farm (Ust-Labinsky district in the Krasnodar Territory).

Cultivation of mink is a business that brings considerable profit. Minks can be bred for fur, for sale of live adults or mink puppies. In this article we will talk about the main features of their breeding and profit from this. Read more business ideas in the article:

Simple Business: Growing a Mink Starts with Buying a Pair

For breeding minks, only two individuals of both sexes will be enough. It is better to buy cubs from the owners of a licensed farm. In monetary terms, this will require from 7 to 15,000 rubles per 1 individual.
Many owners keep only a male or a female, finding a pair to mate through advertisements. But this method is quite laborious and problematic for two reasons. Firstly, the owners of the second mink will need to give half of the cubs. And secondly, you cannot be 100% sure of the strength of the health of another individual.

Features of growing minks

Minks are quite unpretentious to the conditions. The only problematic time is February. This month, minks often get sick, from which you will have to visit the veterinarian every year and get vaccinated. These animals are carnivores, so you will have to stock up on meat to feed them.
Free space. Minks are very mobile and flexible animals that need a lot of space. Moreover, it is quite difficult to keep a mink in an apartment: it must be let out of the cage, and moving freely around the apartment, minks often spoil furniture, scratch varnish surfaces and gnaw things.

Home reservoir. In addition, these animals are very fond of water. This is due to the fact that in the natural environment, the mink lives near water bodies and loves to frolic in them. Therefore, sometimes let your pets swim in the bath or pour them a basin of water.
Conflict. The peculiarity of the coexistence of minks with other individuals is not arranged in the best way. Minks are quite actively fighting for supremacy in the flock. Therefore, if another animal lives in the house (of the same size or smaller), then you will have to think again about the place for breeding mink. There are cases when these individuals bit small domestic animals to death.

mink breeding

In the mink breeding business, it is important to be able to correctly count and get offspring. March is the best time for minks to mate. This can be understood by the characteristic rumbling of the individual. It starts at the 11th month of life, it makes no sense to mate minks earlier, since the offspring can turn out to be sick and weak.
Pregnancy lasts from 50 to 72 days, and the mink bears about 6-8 cubs. Minks are born completely bald, and only after a while they become overgrown with their valuable fur.

Making a profit from mink breeding

Everyone earns in their own way. The most common way for mink growers at home is to sell offspring. From one pair you can get up to 120,000 rubles per year.
Growing and selling adults for fur is usually done on large farms, as this requires selling individuals in large quantities. The mink does not grow more than 40 cm in length, from which very little fur is obtained from it.

You can sell individuals from which you have received offspring for 5 years. Minks older than this age are no longer of particular value for fur products, as the individual ages and the quality of the fur deteriorates. The most relevant period for dressing mink is winter. In winter, the animal is overgrown with warm fur, and the pile itself acquires a beautiful color.

Conclusion

Breeding minks for fur at home will require a lot of free space. There is no point in doing this if you cannot keep a large number of individuals at the same time. But breeding animals and selling cubs due to their considerable cost can bring a good income.

Growing a turkey. Profitable business with minimal investment! Growing potatoes for sale. Profitable seasonal business. Growing champignon mushrooms as a business. Profitable, fast-payback investment.

For people who want to organize their own livestock business, I recommend taking a closer look at the idea of \u200b\u200bbreeding a mink at home or.

Mink breeding as a business is a profitable activity that, if properly organized, will certainly bring you a stable and large income.

Mink is an animal that is very famous for its beautiful fur. Every woman dreams of a chic mink coat. Products from the fur of this animal are quite expensive, only rich people wear such fur coats and vests. A mink coat is not only very warm and beautiful, but also worn for many years without losing its presentation.

Not only fur coats are sewn from mink fur, but also hats, mittens, collars and scarves. The demand for fur is quite large, so its cost is considerable.

From this, many entrepreneurs are thinking about organizing a mink breeding farm.

Mink breeding business plan

Mink breeding at home

The mink is a small predatory animal of the mustelid family. The animal is small in size up to 50 cm. The mink comes in a wide variety of colors from brown, black, to silver-blue. Interestingly, for the production of elite fur coats of world brands, only female skins are used, the quality of their fur is much higher than that of males.

To keep these fluffy animals, you need to equip cages and a room. Cells can be made independently or made to order. It is important that the mink has enough free space, take care of the convenience of the animals. Growing these wild animals requires a free space, so this type of income is suitable for people living in rural areas. If you are a resident of the city, we recommend that you do it at home.

A house should be equipped in the cage, where the animal can hide from prying eyes. Also put a special feeder for food, a drinking bowl and a container of water, these predators love water treatments.

Minks are aggressive animals, so they need to be kept in separate cages. The length of this structure should be at least 60 centimeters, and more, it all depends on your preferences. But even in such an area, predators will feel comfortable.

Feeding

Minks are predators by nature. In the wild, they feed mainly on small rodents, fish, and birds. If you decide to start breeding mink at home, you must provide the animals with a complete, balanced diet. It should mainly consist of fresh meat, fish, plant foods and dairy products.

It is not necessary to feed the mink with low-quality oily waste. It is best to breed rodents for these purposes, providing these predatory animals with a complete, healthy diet.

It is also possible to feed minks with inexpensive fish that can be bought in bulk. But do not forget that these furry animals are prone to various diseases, and this is a risk to your business. Therefore, take care of the constant monitoring of minks by a veterinarian, and also add vitamins to food for prevention. This will significantly increase the chances of survival of the offspring.

Business registration

Before starting your business, you must register as a sole trader or LLC. To breed minks, you need to obtain a license, as well as documents confirming the origin and evaluation of the breeding and productive qualities of animals.

If you plan to carry out your detailing as an individual entrepreneur, you must have the appropriate education (livestock specialist or zooengineer). If there is no education, then you need to register as an LLC and hire, for the position of your deputy, a person with the appropriate education.

In addition, the maintenance of minks on your farm will be checked by the sanitary and epidemiological service, which should issue a conclusion on whether you adhere to the rules and regulations.
After collecting and submitting documents within 60 days, the licensing authority decides whether to issue or refuse a license, which is issued for 5 years.

Sales of products

This business does not require large investments. You can start small, buy a small stock and leave young females for breeding. Naturally, in this case, the payback period of the business will be longer, but with a lack of funds, this is a good way out of the situation.

Mink implementation options:

Sale of live minks as pets or for divorce. Additionally, you can earn money by selling minks for breeding. Also today, keeping these animals at home as pets has become fashionable. But here you should not forget that the mink is a predatory and rather aggressive animal that is difficult to tame. The only way to domesticate a mink is to care for the cub from the moment of birth. It is almost impossible to tame an adult animal.
Sale of skins. You will receive the main income, of course, by selling this valuable fur. Fur factories and shops can become your clients. Prices for mink skins are quite high, everything will depend on the quality and a well-established distribution channel. Therefore, take care of this at the initial stage of implementing your idea;
Tailoring of fur products. If you own your own mink farm, you may well open a fur tailoring factory. Thus, you will be able to successfully invest your money and significantly increase your profits.

conclusions

First of all, I want to note that this business is profitable and quite promising, because fur prices are only growing every year.

An important condition for success in business is a competent investment, it is also important to adhere to the technology of breeding, caring for and keeping furry animals. Without proper care, minks can get sick, and you will lose all your livestock and doom your business to failure.
A very important point is a competent sales market. It is important to find buyers in advance and, if possible, conclude a contract with them for the supply of products.