The influence on breeding, production, and acid-base balance when mink are fed on acidified feed.

It has been shown, partly in an investigation in which female mink were subject to increasing quantities of acid in their feed, and partly in an investigation of experimental animals which were fed with various concentrations of acid-preserved fishsilage, that there is a marked risk for a change of the acid-base balance to a metabolic acidosis when pH in the feed comes lower than 5. These investigations are also considered to show that mink's reproductive ability and general welfare is considerably affected when fed with large quantities of acid-preserved fish feed over a longer period, possibly because of alterations in the acid base balance. It is possible to reduce or avoid metabolic acidosis in mink by neutralizing silage or feed.