Effect of slurry channels to collect urine and faeces in mink farming

摘要

In practical mink farming slurry channels collect the majority of urine and faeces under the cages. However, no studies have previously focused on the exact ratio of urine and faeces collected by the slurry channels and the ratio that ends up on the area beneath the cages. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop a new method that could collect urine and faeces in specific areas under the cage. The second aim was to determine how much urine and faeces the slurry channel are able to collect, andthird to study differences in the way mink depose the urine between young mink in pairs, single female, and single male mink and furthermore faeces for male mink in January and February and describe conceivable seasonal variations for urine deposition.Two different collections chutes were developed so urine and faeces from six cages could be registered in specific sections under the cages. Common for both setups were that both had 8 collecting bottles, i.e. three bottles representing the slurry channel and five bottles the soil area. Ones every 24 hours, urine and faeces was collected and weighted to quantify the amount. The preliminary findings show that the slurry channels collect the majority of the urine and faeces. Results from the three groupsin October and November showed that young mink in pairs depose 93.0% of the urine in the slurry channels, whereas female and male mink depose 93.2% and 80.5%, respectively. In conclusion the collection chute can be used to define where the mink depose urine and faeces.