Investigating the welfare implications of cage size for mink

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This project investigates the welfare implications of cage size for mink on Canadian fur farms, primarily investigating the heights & floor areas that mink elect to use when given a choice, in order to assess whether the greater heights & larger floor areas of European cages are preferred over those stipulated in Canadian Codes. This 3-year project involves four experiments, as follows. Experiments 1A & B on cage height: what internal cage heights do mink prefer, for feeding from (1A) & for performing other activities under (1B)? Experiments 2 A & B on floor space: How do Canadian Codes & Danish legal floor areas compare in terms of: mink stress physiology, growth & other indicators sensitive to welfare, when animals are raised with these floor areas; preference (i.e. do mink voluntarily choose the floor areas offered by European cages over those offered by Canadian?); and how socially-housed animals rest, especially when ambient temperatures are high (meaning animals may want to lie flat out without touching, to lose heat). Each of these experiments is targeted at a stage of life most likely to be affected by floor area: large pair-housed males (2A), who to thermoregulate may need space to lie spread out without touching; and single adult females (2B), since for them the difference between Danish & Canadian floor areas is greater than at any other life stage (Canadian floor areas are less than 60% of European floor areas). This will produce much needed data for informing the mink farming community how aspects of cage design can affect their animals' welfare; for informing the next set of National Farm Animal Care Council Codes of Practice for the Care & Handling of Farmed Mink (to be revised between 2018 and 2023) & other mink care guidelines around the globe, e.g. those used in the USA; and for providing objective data on whether the smaller cages used in North America relative to Europe have any adverse effects on mink well-being. This should benefit the sustainability of an industry annually worth some $800 million to Canada, and help improve the welfare of more than c. 4 million Canadian mink p.a.