Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T07:30:25.034Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Water intake and excretion, urinary solute excretion and some stress indicators in mink (Mustela vison): 2. Short-term response of adult males to changes in ambient temperature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

A.-H. Tauson*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Funbo Lövsta Research Station, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-755 97 Uppsala, Sweden
Get access

Abstract

Quantitative water intake and excretion, urinary osmolality and urinary excretion of Na, K and cortisol were studied in an experiment with nine adult male mink. The experiment comprised four periods each of 3 days, and ambient temperature (Ta) was increased from 5°C to 20 °C (periods 1 to 2) and, after an interval of 1 day, continued at 20°C and then decreased to 5°C (periods 3 to 4). Three different water supplies were given, namely E: extra water in the food, N: normal ad libitum water supply or R: restricted, free access to drinking water twice daily. Intake of metabolizable energy (ME) was calculated, and the water intake and excretion data were related to ME intake. The effect of Ta on quantitative water intake and excretion was evident, with the greatest response recorded when Ta was decreased. Intake of drinking water was highest at 20 °C, as well as the total water balance. The water supply had some, but not a profound, influence on water intake and excretion, with tendencies for reduced drinking water intake and water excretion in urine for R mink. Intake of ME decreased during period 3 at 20 °C and then increased when Ta was decreased to 5°C, which was reflected by an increased 24-h excretion of Na and K as well as an increased osmolality of the urine. Therefore, it was concluded that water intake and excretion were affected by combined effects of Ta and ME intake. Generally, it was shown that the mink responded rapidly to changes in Ta, and within 24 h significant effects of the change could be recorded for several of the traits studied.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Present address: Department of Animal Science and Animal Health, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Bülowsvej 13, DK-l870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark.

References

Berg, H., Valtonen, M., Tang, L. and Eriksson, L. 1984. Protein digestibility and water and nitrogen balance studies with mink at different protein levels. Proceedings of the third international scientific congress in fur animal production, communication no. 9, pp. 17. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique et Institute Technique de l’Aviculture, Paris.Google Scholar
Black, J. L., Campbell, R. G., Williams, I. H., James, K. J. and Davies, G. T. 1986. Simulation of energy and amino acid utilisation in the pig. Research and Development in Agriculture 3: 121145.Google Scholar
Davies, D. P. 1975. Protein intake, osmolality homoeostatis and renal function in infancy. Postgraduate Medical Journal 51: (suppl. 3) 2530.Google Scholar
Farrell, D. J. and Wood, A. J. 1968. The nutrition of the female mink. III. The water requirement for maintenance. Canadian Journal of Zoology 46: 5356.Google Scholar
Hansen, S. W. and Damgaard, B. M. 1991. Effect of environmental stress and immobilization on stress physiological variables in farmed mink. Behavioural Processes 25: 191204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Korhonen, H., Harri, M. and Asikainen, J. 1983. Thermoregulation of polecat and racoon dog: a comparative study with stoat, mink and blue fox. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 74A: 225230.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madej, A., Forsberg, M. and Edqvist, L.-E. 1992. Urinary excretion of cortisol and oestrone sulfate in pregnant mink females fed PCB and fractions of PCB. Ambio 21: 582585.Google Scholar
Neil, M. 1986. Feed-related factors affecting water turnover in mink. Swedish Journal of Agricultural Research 16: 8188.Google Scholar
Neil, M. 1988. Effects of dietary energetic composition and water content on water turnover in mink. Swedish Journal of Agricultural Research 18: 135140.Google Scholar
Nes, N., Einarsson, E. J. and Lohi, O. 1987. Beautiful fur animals — and their colour genetics. Scientifur, Hillerød.Google Scholar
Statistical Analysis Systems Institute. 1985. SAS user’s guide: statistics. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC. Google Scholar
Tauson, A.-H. 1996. Pattern of protein oxidation during gestation in mink. In Protein metabolism and nutrition. Proceedings of the seventh international symposium on protein metabolism and nutrition (ed. Nunes, A. F., Portugal, A. V. Costa, J. P. and Ribeiro, J. R.). EAAP publication no. 81, p. 407. Estacio Zootecnica Nacional, Vale de Santarem.Google Scholar
Tauson, A.-H. 1999. Water intake and excretion, urinary solute excretion and some stress indicators in mink (Mustela vison). 1. Effect of ambient temperature and quantitative water supply to adult males. Animal Science 69: 0000.Google Scholar
Valtonen, M., Mäkelä, J. and Eriksson, L. 1982. Njurens koncentrationsförmåga hos friska och plasmacytotiska minkar. Proceedings of the 14th Nordic veterinary congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, pp. 373374.Google Scholar
Wamberg, S., Tauson, A.-H. and Elnif, J. 1996. Effects of feeding and short-term fasting on water and electrolyte turnover in female mink (Mustela vison) . British Journal of Nutrition 76: 711725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wustenberg, W. and Wustenberg, M. 1988. Reducing heat stress in mink production units: basic principles of environmental control. In Biology, pathology and genetics of fur bearing animals. Proceedings of the fourth international scientific congress in fur animal production (ed. Murphy, B. D. and Hunter, D. B.), pp. 130135. International Fur Animal Science Association, Toronto.Google Scholar