Mink and other fur animals

InvalidID · #1 06/05/11, 09:02 PM

I want to raise mink. I know a lot of folks will tell me how evil it is to raise animals just for the fur blah blah blah. I want mink.

So, does anyone know where a guy would buy a breeding pair? I've been looking online all day and I'm coming up mighty short of answers. Feel free to PM me if you don't want folks to know you have, do, or know who breeds mink and other fur animals.

BoldViolet · #2 06/05/11, 10:26 PM

How is the fur industry doing?

I know lots of chinchilla ranchers were doing better selling their animals as pets for YEARS instead of as fur since the fur industry was kind of in the toilet for a while.

Good luck in your search!

InvalidID · #3 06/05/11, 10:44 PM

I'm not sure how the industry is doing. I don't want the mink for a business so much as I want them for myself. I have grand dreams of mink underwear and pillow covers...lol

Sawmill Jim · #4 06/05/11, 11:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InvalidID

I'm not sure how the industry is doing. I don't want the mink for a business so much as I want them for myself. I have grand dreams of mink underwear and pillow covers...lol

Got a herd of cats i could part with

After dark you may not know the difference

bruce2288 · #5 06/06/11, 12:29 AM

I suggest you google mink breeding stock and get your health insurance paid up. They are vicious critters.

Harry Chickpea · #6 06/06/11, 12:41 AM

You don't want to raise mink. You need to raise a Victoria's Secret model. Some guys are so confused...

InvalidID · #7 06/06/11, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry Chickpea

You don't want to raise mink. You need to raise a Victoria's Secret model. Some guys are so confused...

Wouldn't the mink help me land the model though?

time · #8 06/06/11, 02:52 AM

I doubt you'll find much online since the do-gooders give mink farmers such a hard time. Not likely they would give out much public info.

SFM in KY · #9 06/06/11, 06:38 AM

You might want to go to a rabbit show somewhere and get your hands on a standard Rex rabbit. They are raised as a fur rabbit and have truly incredible fur ... feels like sheared beaver fur coats ... think in terms of 1" thick plush velvet. That might be an option for you to consider.

When I got them originally back in the 1970s one of the reasons I wanted them was the fur quality ... I lived in Montana, had a driving pony and had plans for a fur sleigh robe.

rockhound · #10 06/06/11, 06:43 AM

You will have to feed the Mink something.....rabbits come to mind, might raise them first. The fur mkt is down, bought feed is expensive. Good luck tho. keep us in the loop.

pookshollow · #11 06/06/11, 09:01 AM

I worked for a mink farmer a couple of years ago. From what I understand, the market for mink pelts is doing pretty well. But you do need to have a few hundred females to see any real money. I believe my old boss just went up another 1500.

There is a fur breeders' association in Canada - pretty sure there would be one in the States as well. You could probably find it online.

After having worked with the little buggers, I can honestly say that IMHO mink deserve to be made into fur coats!

BoldViolet · #12 06/06/11, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by InvalidID

I'm not sure how the industry is doing. I don't want the mink for a business so much as I want them for myself. I have grand dreams of mink underwear and pillow covers...lol

Ah, got'chya.

I hope you can share your journey in this (well, maybe not so much about the fuzzy undies).

JJFarmer · #13 06/06/11, 12:56 PM

If you find any good information I'd appreciate it if you'd pass it on. Over the years I've looked into foxes and mink for fur but it's so hard to find any real information. If kept small a person might get by if you don't attract too much attention.

big rockpile · #14 06/06/11, 01:26 PM

Me I just Trap but you might want to consider raising Rats and Mice.

big rockpile

fishhead · #15 06/06/11, 01:49 PM

Why not learn how to trap? Fur prices are down so there's lots of opportunity to find mink.

I visited a mink farm. They were extremely cautious about having visitors and a few months later I found out why. Some knuckleheads turned several hundred of their mink loose to die out in the wild.

InvalidID · #16 06/06/11, 02:04 PM

I have a few rabbits here. I don't want rabbit fur though. I want mink. This is something I've wanted to do for a while but haven't been able to find a decent pair to breed. When I do though...

I figure rabbits to feed the mink, mink can feed the dogs, dogs can eat the hippies that try to set my mink loose.

I am thinking of trying to trap some. I have to find out where they are and how to trap em though. Anyone wanna fill me in on the best mink bait? LOL

buffalocreek · #17 06/06/11, 02:06 PM

"Wouldn't the mink help me land the model though"

I don't think so.

I remember as a kid selling jackrabbits I'd shot to a mink raiser. I remember to this day the unbearable stench of their backyard and house. Like someone had dumped fifty gallons of rotting guts in the hot sun. I decided after a few visits that the 25 cents I got per rabbit wasn't worth it and never went back.

On the plus side, they were probably never bothered by relatives and others they didn't like.

oregon woodsmok · #18 06/06/11, 02:50 PM

I'm not too interested in raising mink, but if I wanted to, I wouldn't start with trapped wild mink. I'd buy a couple of breeding pairs that had been selectively bred for generations for fur quality and get them in exactly the color I wanted.

Chinchillas are a lot easier to raise and I think the fur is lovely.

At one point in my life, I had a throw made out of alpaca fur. Very very nice.

I would suspect that the number of fur ranchers is way down. Fur coats are severely out of fashion.

InvalidID · #19 06/06/11, 03:04 PM

Fur may be out of fashion, but I will be the coolest hunter in the woods with a mink lined tree stand... LOL Kidding of course.

Chinchillas are ok, but I want something that isn't cute when alive. If I got into Chinchillas or rabbits the kids and wife would name them all and never let me kill anything. Mean, ugly, smelly, mink they wouldn't fall in love with. A silver fox would be cool too, but same problem. Be a really cool pet though!

Oldcountryboy · #20 06/06/11, 04:04 PM

A cuz and I went into the mink business when we were youngsters. We had a purty good business going on till we had one of those brainny ideals of getting richer with our product. We came up with the ideal of crossing minks with snakes. That way the hybrid minks would shed their skin a couple of times a year and we wouldn't have to kill them. Well we put snakes in the pens with the minks to breed but the snakes ended up killing and eating all the minks. Next thing we knew, we was totally out of business as we had no more minks left for breeding. Had plenty of snakes for a long time, but there was no big demand for snake skins.