FUR FARMING. The keeping and breeding of animals for their fur is one of the oldest occupations. The Chinese have farmed goats and dogs for an unknown number of centuries, using the flesh of the animals as food, and their skins, fur or hair covered, according to species, for the purposes of trade; whilst if one considers the sheep as a fur-bearing animal, the inception of fur farming is lost in the mists of antiquity.
Silver Fox Farming.—The growth of this industry, in the modern sense, is due to the practice of a few Canadian trappers of keeping silver foxes, caught out of season and consequently with inferior coats, until their fur became what is known as "prime" ; i.e., at its best and fullest. This practice, which was carried on in secret and known only to a few, was the means of bringing considerable wealth to the trappers, as the value of a "prime" skin is enhanced out of all proportion to a badly furred specimen. The knowledge that men were making f or tunes by fox farming gradually spread, and when in the year 1900 a single "farmed" skin fetched £58o at the London Fur Auction Sales, it was recognized that the potentialities of this under taking were very great indeed. Since the pioneers of the industry, Sir Chas. Dalton and Mr. R. T. Oulton, first demonstrated the financial possibilities resultant from breeding foxes in captivity, 25 years ago, the industry has made such strides that the Cana dian Department of Agriculture have taken it up and have under taken to operate an experimental farm, established by the Canadian National Silver Fox Breeders Association, at Summer side, Prince Edward Island; there they have constructed a lab oratory and installed a staff of veterinary surgeons and chemists with the one view of fostering the industry.
The expansion of fox farming really began in i 910; up to this time the idea of the farmers was to sell the skins (known as pelts) only, but such a demand was established for foxes for breeding purposes that in 1911 all available silver foxes were sold alive. The cost of a pair of foxes rose from $3,000 in 1910 to $20,000 and even $35,000 in 1913, and extensive gambling took place—even to options on unborn pups ! This phase of trade was stopped by the World War; thereafter speculation gave place to solidity and the industry in 1927 was firmly established.
The pioneers of fox farming thought at first that conditions approximating as closely as possible to nature, i.e., large open spaces, would produce the best results, but experiments have proved that pairs of foxes can be successfully kept in pens, with an area of not less than 700 sq. ft., always provided that the animals have a kennel to which they can retire.
A fox farm consists, then, of a number of wire breeding pens, with a kennel in each, size approximately 3 5f t. x 25ft., with 6ft. between each enclosure, a broad alley, large enough for a cart to pass through, between each double row of pens, a certain quantity of trees and shrubs to afford the animals shelter and seclusion; small portable pens, size 6ft. x 6ft. x 15ft., each with kennel for transport of the males ; storehouses and an isolation hospital: the whole (with the exception of the hospital, certainly, and the storehouses, preferably) surrounded by a wire fence.
The wire used should be 14 gauge with a mesh of 2in., the outer fence firmly erected, should be 'oft. in height, with a further 2ft. sunk in the ground projecting inwards, to prevent the ani mals burrowing under it, and another 2ft. at the top, also extend ing inwards, to prevent climbing over. This outer fence should be from 25ft. to 3of t. from the pens. There are two most impor tant points to be borne in mind to make a success of fox farm ing; they are seclusion and sanitation.
Seclusion.—The fox is an extraordinarily shy animal, and it is useless to hope for good results if disturbing influences are allowed to bear upon the animals. The kennels therefore should have a right-angled entrance, to exclude light, and should consist of a compartment within a compartment; the inner chamber is termed a den and must be so constructed that it can easily be removed for cleansing purposes. The den should be loin. square, the outer kennel 21ft. x 5ft., the roof should slope and a venti lation hole 4in. square must be cut at either end. The inside must be sandpapered smooth to prevent damage to the fur.
The farm should be kept as quiet and secluded as possible; anything that tends to irritate the animals, strange faces for instance, should be rigorously excluded, and no farmer should allow strangers in or about the farm between January and June.
Sanitation.—Foxes in the wild state range over an extremely wide area and therefore have not the same chance of coming in contact with the secretions or excretions of other foxes as when penned up in a small enclosure. These enclosures therefore must be kept scrupulously clean. The sweepings must be burnt, the kennels washed with soap and water and then disinfected, whilst the ground is best sterilized by being scorched.
Disease breaking out amongst such valuable animals is a seri ous matter and extra care in sanitary matters is repaid a thou sand-fold. Feed pans should be removed after each meal, and both these and water pans should be frequently cleansed in boil ing water: foxes have the unpleasant habit of soiling their food and water vessels, and on the principle that prevention is better than cure, it should be put out of their power to do so.
Foxes, except during the mating season, do not fight to any extent when in the same enclosure, but if one is removed to an adjacent pen, then trouble begins and the animals try to get at one another through the wires—hence the reason for having the pens 6ft. apart.
In the wild state the fox is monogamous, but in confinement the male should be removed from the female after mating, as his presence seems to excite the female when she is in pup, with resultant bad effects on the young.
In captivity a single male has been successfully mated with four females. The mating season is in February and March and the period of gestation about 51 days. When the pups are weaned, i.e., when two months old, they should be taken from the mother.
The fox resembles the dog in being omnivorous, so that an entirely meat diet is as unfit for the one animal as it is for the other. A quarter pound of meat, bones to gnaw and the vegetable scraps that one gives to a dog, make an ideal diet for the fox. The daily ration of a 121b. fox should equal 533 calories (heat units), and summer and winter diets approximating this value are ap pended herewith.
Milk should be included in the daily ration throughout the year.
A good deal of space has been devoted to silver fox farming, as this branch of the industry is most efficiently organized both in Canada and in Great Britain; the controlling British society is known as the Silver Fox Breeders' Association of Great Britain, and at the second exhibition held at the Crystal Palace in 1927, 89 British-bred foxes were shown.
Other Fur Farms.—In addition to silver fox farms, of which there were 2,517 in Canada on Dec. 30, 1926, there were also 95 mink, 57 raccoon and 43 of various other animals. The industry is also carried on in the United States and farms for mink, raccoon, skunk, musquash, beaver, deer, blue and silver fox have been established, whilst chinchillas are farmed in the Andes. Mention must also be made of the farming of rabbits in Great Britain. The controlling organization, known as the Fur Board (Ltd.) has been in existence for eight years, has a membership of 1,700 and an output of 45,00o pelts. The skunk and pine marten are also farmed in Great Britain, whilst in certain parts of the country are what may be termed mole farms; i.e., the ground is not cultivated in any way, but a highly lucrative crop of moles is annually gathered.