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Draft Code of Practice for the Farming of Mink for

Public Consultation

To be adopted by the Minister of Agriculture,

Food and the Marine under Section 25 of the

Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013

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For the purposes of the code “stock-keeper” means the owner of the mink or the person

responsible for looking after them.

1. Stockmanship

1. All those engaged in the keeping, breeding or killing of mink must ensure that every

reasonable step is taken to safeguard the health and welfare of the mink.

2. Stock-keepers working with mink should have a suitable temperament, be respectful of

the mink, and be competent in the care and handling of mink. Farms should have work

instructions or routines for all animal attendants to follow and Standard Operating

Procedures should be in effect for all crucial activities.

3. The mink shall be cared for by a sufficient number of personnel with adequate knowledge

of the mink concerned, the husbandry system and the killing facilities used. In particular

the stock-keepers shall be able to:

(a) recognise whether or not the mink are in good health;

(b) understand the significance of behavioural changes;

(c) appreciate the suitability of the total environment for the minks health and welfare.

(d) be familiar with the contents of Standard Operating Procedures.

The stock-keeper must be aware of the role of animal welfare in the daily work with the

mink and must be able to recognise whether the total environment is adequate to keep the

mink healthy and if it provides for the fulfilment of their biological needs, including those

to show certain behaviours. All farm staff should be encouraged to participate in

continuing education activities related to animal health and welfare

4. In order to develop a positive relationship between man and animal, there should be

appropriate careful handling and other contact so that the mink are habituated to human

contact from an early age.

5. On-farm record keeping relating to health and mortality is essential. Detailed and accurate

record keeping helps producers identify health issues early and serves as an indicator of

overall herd health status.

6. Prevention of health problems is always preferable to treatment. Biosecurity protocols

should be adopted on-farm and herd health management programs implemented.

7. On-farm management practices significantly affect animal health, animal welfare, and

production. Best management practices are only effective tools for managing animal

health, maintaining good animal welfare, and achieving high production if they are well

implemented. Farms should have work instructions or routines for all animal attendants to

follow.

8. The Private Veterinary Practitioner (PVP) should be consulted in the development of on-

farm biosecurity and herd health programs, provide information and access to

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medications to be used as required, and advice and direction on diagnosis and treatment

of ill or injured mink. Herd health programs must be tailored to meet the needs of each

individual farm and must consider the overall health of the herd as well as that of

individual mink.

9. It is important to maintain continuous observation of mink so that appropriate action can

be taken to minimise stereotypical behaviour. It is up to the owners/keepers to ensure that

those working with mink are aware of what constitutes stereotypical behaviour and are

able to identify when issues arise.

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2. Housing

General Requirements

1. Professional advice on health and welfare aspects should be sought when new enclosures,

housing or equipment are to be constructed or existing enclosures, housing or equipment

are to be modified.

2. New methods of husbandry and new design of equipment or accommodation for mink

should be comprehensively tested from the point of view of health and welfare and, when

tests are undertaken, shall not be put into commercial use unless found to be satisfactory

3. When new accommodation for mink is planned, a suitable site shall be selected, taking

into consideration the risk of outside environmental factors such as noise, vibration and

atmospheric pollution, as well as the facilities to fulfil species-specific needs for certain

environmental facilities. Full advantage shall be taken of natural features to provide

shelter from adverse climatic conditions.

4. The design, construction and maintenance of enclosures, buildings and equipment must,

fulfil the mink’s biological needs, including those to carry out certain behaviours,

provide shelter from adverse climatic conditions,

maintain good conditions of hygiene,

limit the risk of disease, disorders manifested by behavioural changes, traumatic

injuries to the mink, or injuries caused by the mink to each other,

respect the security conditions which are necessary for fire prevention and protection,

avoid sharp corners and projections.

If cages are used, their openings must be such that the mink can be removed without

difficulty,

allow, without difficulty, thorough inspection of all mink.

5. The design, construction and maintenance of enclosures, buildings and equipment for

mink shall allow thorough inspection of all animals without difficulty.

Floors shall be well drained in order to evacuate droppings and spills of water or other

liquid, and such as to avoid discomfort, distress or traumatic injury to the mink. Materials

used for floors shall be appropriate for mink.

6. Equipment should be available for the proper handling of mink under examination,

treatment or test.

7. Suitable accommodation should be available for separation and, where necessary for

isolation so that sick or injured mink can be carefully examined and treated.

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8. Every mink shall have available to it an area where it can hide itself appropriately from

people or from mink in other cages or pens.

9. The premises on which pelting takes place shall be situated sufficiently far from the

enclosures used for other animals so that these animals are not disturbed.

Specific Requirements

1. Minimum space for mink

Free area (cm2)1

(excluding nest boxes)

Single adult animal 2550

Single adult with cubs 2550

Juveniles after weaning, up to 2 animals 2550 2

The minimum height of any accommodation shall be 45 cm.

The figures above shall apply for new systems or when existing systems are replaced.

1 No accommodation shall be less than 30 cm wide excluding nest box.

No accommodation shall be less than 70 cm long excluding nest box.

2 For each additional animal more than 2, an additional 850 cm

2 shall be provided.

2. A nest box of thermo-insulating material, which is not hazardous to the health of the

mink, with a sufficient floor area shall be available. The design of the opening of the nest

box shall allow new born mink to be retained while providing easy access for other

animals. Suitable bedding and occupational material such as straw shall be regularly

provided, and its adequacy must be checked, especially during the period of giving birth

and in the cold season.

3. Immature mink shall not be kept isolated. Stable relationships are most easily obtained in

groups of mink reared together. Group sizes and stocking densities of these mink shall be

such that they allow for peaceful cohabitation and adjusted where there are indications of

problems. Weaning of young shall take place at an age which is most beneficial to the

welfare of the mother and the young, and shall take place not earlier than eight weeks of

age. Only in exceptional circumstances where the welfare of the mother or the young is

endangered, can the weaning take place at a younger age. Weaned young should not be

left in the vicinity of their mother.

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4. Where there is a significant level of stereotypy or self-mutilation in mink on a farm, the

system of housing or management shall be changed appropriately so that the welfare of

the mink is improved. If these measures are not sufficient then production should be

suspended.

5. When breeding mink are paired together or, in exceptional circumstances, when adult

mink are placed in the same accommodation, there shall be adequate supervision.

6. Cages must not be placed one above the other and must be placed at a sufficient height to

allow the easy removal of faeces.

7. In the design, construction or reconstruction of accommodation for the mink, endeavours

shall be made to develop and apply systems which are, in the light of available scientific

knowledge, appropriate to their biological needs.

Environment

1. Mink are receptive to environmental enrichment. Enrichments can help to reduce the

development of stereotypies in mink, but may not decrease or eliminate stereotypies once

they have been developed. Therefore, enrichments should be introduced early in life (to

juveniles) as a preventative measure against the development of stereotypies.

2. The mink shall be provided with an environment which takes into consideration their

biological characteristics as established on the basis of knowledge and experience from

nature and from the farm situation. Enrichments that can be manipulated tend to be

preferred by mink over fixed objects. Some enrichments can have a novel effect; once the

novelty wears off, the effectiveness of that enrichment is reduced.

3. Owners should provide an enrichment that can be manipulated by the mink or different

novel objects (to avoid habituation); once an environmental enrichment like this has been

provided, access to such enrichments should be maintained for the rest of the life of that

mink as removal may cause frustration.

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3. Health

1. Providing sick or injured mink with comfort, appropriate care, and/or euthanasia are

priorities for good animal welfare. An effective health management program will help

with early identification of individual mink that are in pain, sick, or injured and will have

established procedures for treating or euthanizing those animals. An effective herd health

program will also monitor herd health and performance to help with early

identification/diagnosis of any herd health issues or disease outbreaks.

2. All mink shall be thoroughly inspected at least once a day in the least disturbing manner

for the particular species, and in so far as this would not unnecessarily disturb nests.

When necessary a source of light shall be available for this purpose. Such inspections

shall be made independently of any automatic surveillance equipment.

3. For thorough inspection of the mink, special attention shall be paid to bodily condition,

condition of hair, skin, eyes, ears, tail, legs and feet. Healthy animals have sounds,

activity, movements and posture appropriate to their species, age, sex, breed or

physiological condition. Signs of good health include: clear bright eyes, good posture,

clean and, depending on species and season, shiny coat, sound feet and legs, normal

feeding, drinking, sucking or suckling behaviour if appropriate, normal getting up, lying

down, and resting behaviour and otherwise normal movements, posture and behaviour.

4. Thorough inspection does not mean that each mink has to be examined individually.

Individual examination is to be made only of those animals for which the overall

inspection indicates this as being necessary.

5. At the inspection it must be borne in mind that signs of ill health include listlessness, loss

of appetite, discharge from the nostrils or eyes, excessive salivation, persistent coughing,

swollen joints, lameness, scouring and behavioural aberrations. Attention shall also be

paid to the presence of external parasites, to the condition of droppings and to feed and

water consumption.

6. If mink are apparently not in good health, or if they are showing obvious signs of

behavioural aberrations, the person responsible for them shall take steps without delay to

establish the cause and shall take appropriate remedial action. If the immediate action

taken by the person responsible is not effective a veterinarian must be consulted or, if

necessary, other expert advice must be sought.

If the cause is traced to a factor which it is not essential or possible to remedy

immediately, this should be corrected when the accommodation is emptied or in any case

within 12 months.

7. Injured, sick or distressed mink shall be treated without delay and, if necessary, be

separated in suitable accommodation for this purpose or humanely euthanised.

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4. Killing

1. All slaughter of mink must be carried out under the supervision of a person who holds a

certificate of competence in all the areas under their supervision. The areas for which a

certificate of competence is needed are:

a. Practical aspects of handling and restraining animals.

b. Practical aspects of stunning techniques and knowledge of manufacturers’

instructions on stunning equipments.

c. Back-up stunning and/or killing methods.

d. Monitoring the effectiveness of stunning and confirmation of death.

e. Basic maintenance and cleaning of stunning and/or killing equipment.

2. Personnel carrying out certain slaughter operations and people supervising the seasonal

killing of mink are required to have a certificate of competence relevant to the operations

they perform in accordance with Council Regulation 1099 of 2009 on the Protection of

Animals at Time of Killing.

3. Owners must notify the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in advance of

the dates for killing.

4. Business operators shall plan in advance the killing of mink and related operations and

shall carry them out in accordance with standard operating procedures in accordance with

Council Regulation 1099 of 2009 on the Protection of Animals at Time of Killing.

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5. Biosecurity and Contingency Planning

1. Pathogens, pests, and visitors all pose risks to the health and welfare of the mink.

Biosecurity measures are imperative for maintaining the health and welfare of mink on

the farm. Biosecurity programs need to consider: access management, animal

management and operational management.

2. Owners shall ensure that there is adequate fencing and security arrangements within the

farm to ensure security.

3. There must be a suitable contingency plan in place to deal with the outbreak of fire, a

breakdown of electricity supplies, freezing conditions or issues with food or water supply.

4. These plans shall be up-to-date and must be readily accessible at all times and available

for inspection by Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine inspectors. All staff

must be familiar with the existence of the plan and its contents.

5. Prompt collection and containment of dead stock is imperative to minimise the health risk

to other animals.

6. Manure must be handled to minimize contamination. Manure should be removed from

mink sheds at frequent intervals e.g., at the end of a production cycle, following an illness

in the herd. Manure should be handled, transported, and stored to prevent potential

contamination. Manure storage should be located away from the mink housing area and in

a manner that minimizes pest and scavenger access. Shed and site run-off should be

controlled to minimize the spread of pathogens.

7. Bedding must be clean and dry to reduce the risk of compromising mink health.

8. An integrated pest management programs should be in place on the farm.

9. Sanitation plays an important role in the health and welfare of mink. Sheds, pens and nest

boxes should be cleaned at the end of the production cycle and after illness to reduce the

risk of spreading pathogens on the farm.

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6. Relevant Legislation

Welfare

Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013

SI 311 European Communities (Welfare of Farmed Animals) Regulations 2010

Council Regulations (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing

Council of Europe Standing Committee of the European Convention for the Protection of

Animals Kept for Farming Purposes: Recommendation Concerning Fur Animals 1999

S.I. 292/2013 European Union (Protection of animals at the time of killing) Regulations 2013

Musk Rats Act 1933

Animal Remedies Act

Animal By-Products Legislation