These proceedings present the latest achievements and developments within the scientific community of fur animal research organised by the International Fur Animal Scientific Association (IFASA). The book contains papers on the following topics: nutrition, feeding and management, health and disease, breeding, genetics and reproduction, behaviour and welfare and a theme on 'WelFur for mink and foxes'. The scientific results presented do not only come from traditional mink producing countries, but also from countries with more recent developments in fur animal production. The scientific community in the field of fur animal production is small, but the biologic diversity and thus the need for scientifically based knowledge in this area is similar to, or often exceeds, that of other farm animals. In this book, the most diverse and recent advancements in fur animal production were brought together in order to provide a clear overview for all those involved in the fur animal industry.

Preface;Peter Foged Larsen et al.-Part 1. Nutrition, feeding and management.-Protein digestibility of some traditional and new feed ingredients for mink;O. Ahlstrom et al.-Effects of low-protein,DL-methionine and lysine-supplemented diets on growth performance of blue foxes (Alopex lagopus) during the growing-furring period;H.H. Zhang et al.-Effects of dietary protein level on growth, health and physiological parameters in growing-furring mink;B.M. Damgaard et al.-Foetal life protein deprivation of mink dams affects the growth and metabolism of the

F2-generation;C.F. Matthiesen, A.-H. Tauson.-Effect of reduced protein in the growth and furring period in 2010 and 2011 in mink;T.N. Clausen et al.-Validation of the 13C-bicarbonate tracer technique for estimation of CO2 production and energy expenditure in mink (Neovison vison);C. Larsson, A.-H. Tauson.-Body condition and reproduction success in farmed mink males (Neovison vison);B.K. Hansen et al.-Maternal preconceptional nutrition leads to variable fat deposition of adult offspring mice (C57BL/6JBom);E.L. Krogh Mortensen et al.-Influence of nest box environment on kit survival;V.H. Lund, J. Malmkvist.-The influence of succinic acid on the quality of fur-bearing animals skin;A.E. Kokorina et al.-Impact of metal amino acid complexes on arctic fox reproductive performance;D.J. Tomlinson et al.-Yttrium oxide as an inert marker for nutrient digestibility in ferrets (Mustela putoris furo), mink (Neovison vison) and cats (Felis catus);L. Sundling et al.-High storage stability of amino acids in mink feed;M. Schulin-Zeuthen, P.F. Larsen.-Mortality in pair- and group-housed mink after weaning;J. De Rond, F.C. Kleyn Van Willigen.-Life cycle assessment of mink and fox pelts produced in Finland;F. Silvenius et al.-Comparative digestibility of nutrients and energy in ferrets (Mustela putorius furo),mink (Neovison vison) and cats (Felis catus);L. Sundling et al.-Evaluation of the choline status in mink fed different levels and sources of choline;

M.S. Hedemann et al.-Part 2. Health and disease.-Evaluating DNA extraction kits for PCR detection of Aleutian mink disease virus;S.K. Cross et al.- In vivoMALDI-TOF markers for early detection of Aleutian disease (AD) among the AD virus infected mink;A. Cepica et al.-Preliminary results of field and experimental investigations of pre-weaning diarrhea in mink;A.S. Hammer et al.-Outbreaks of influenza A virus in farmed mink (Neovison vison) in Denmark: molecular characterization of the viruses;L.E. Larsen et al.-Lessons learned from typingPseudomonas aeruginosaisolates from hemorrhagic pneumonia in mink using pulsed field gel electrophoresis;C.M. Salomonsen et al.-Antimicrobials in mink consumption and resistance patterns;M. Chriél et al.-The influence of succinic acid in the formation of immunity against salmonellosis in foxes;O.Yu. Bespyatykh et al.-Cage housed marmots diseases;I.A. Plotnikov.-Influenza on Dutch mink farms in 2011;F.C. Kleyn van Willigen, R. Dijkman.-Consequences of outbreaks of influenza A virus in farmed mink (Neovison vison) in Denmark in 2009 and 2010;M. Chriél et al.-Application of Ultrasonography forin vivodiagnosis of fatty liver disease in mink (Neovison vison);A.S. Hammer, T. Clausen.-The ixodic tick borreliosis monitoring;D. Zhuravlev et al.-Field evaluation of CIEP and PCR detection/removal control methods of Aleutian mink disease (AD) in Canada;A. Cepica, T. Iwamoto.-Part 3. Breeding, genetics and reproduction.-Sequencing of the mink genome: plans and perspectives;R. Anistoroaei et al.-Identifying QTL for fur quality traits in mink (Neovison vison);J.P. Thirstrup et al.-Resolving the enigma of embryonic diapause, a forty-year scientific journey;B.D. Murphy.-Application of sequence-characterized amplified regions for detection of self-biting in the blue fox;E. Ren et al.-Nucleotide sequence polymorphism of the growth hormone gene in American mink (Neovison vison);J.J. Skorupski, M. Kmie.-Evidence for genetic variation in bite marks in group housed mink;S.W. Alemu et al.-The regulation role of behavior in coat color formation in mink (Neovison vison);O.V. Trapezov.-Genetic parameters of eye infection in Finnish blue fox (Alopex lagopus);

R. Kempe et al.-The size and constitution of the body of dark-brown mink under different breeding

schemes;L.V. Gerasimova.-Reproductive efficiency of scanbrown and mahogany mink females, selected for litter size;M. Brzozowski et al.-Investigation of placental scars in mink females;L. Tinggaard et al.-Comparative analysis of morphometrics of wild and farm foxes (Vulpes vulpesL.) preliminary results;M. Zato-Dobrowolska et al.-Benefit of high number of active mammary nipples in mink;J. De Rond, F.C. Kleyn van Willigen.-Similarity of coat color aberrations in northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus), mink (Neovison vison), and sable (Martes zibellina);O.V. Trapezov et al.-Coat color mutations and the monoamine content in the brain of the farm-bred mink

(Neovison vison);O.V. Trapezov et al.-A single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter region of the mink tumor necrosis factor-alpha gene;N.S. Yudin et al.-Detection of SNP markers and practical applications in mink (Neovison vison);P.F. Larsen et al.-Part 4. Behaviour and welfare.-Stress influencing production and welfare in farmed mink;J. Malmkvist.-The effects of climbing cages on behaviour of female mink during the lactation period;L. Lidfors et al.-Impact of weaning age on kit performance;T.N. Clausen, P.F. Larsen.-High need for drinking water in young mink kits between 30 and 50 days of age;J. De Rond, F.C. Kleyn van Willigen.-Minks adaptation to group housing in practice;S.W. Hansen, S.H. Moller.-The effect of handling and training on measures of the affective state of farmed mink (Neovison vison);P.M. Svendsen.-Discrimination between the domesticated and the feral American mink in Poland based on the left track of a forelimb;M. Sulik et al.-Welfare consequences of digging substrates in blue foxes;H. T. Korhonen et al.-Effect of slurry channels to collect urine and faeces in mink farming;K. Meldgaard, P.F. Larsen.-Black spots in subcutis of mink pelts are no bite marks;F.C. Kleyn van Willigen et al.-Coat color mutations and defensive reaction towards man in farm-bred minks and sables;O.V. Trapezov et al.-Diversity of selected features of integumentary system in mink;M. Piórkowska, A. Natanek.-Part 5. Theme on Welfur for mink and foxes.-WelFur mink: development of on-farm welfare assessment protocols for mink;S.H. Moller et al.-WelFur-mink: on-farm welfare assessment of mink (Neovision vision) effect of sample size on animal based measures;T. Rousing et al.-Abnormal behaviour in Swedish farm mink during winter;L. Olofsson, L. Lidfors

WelFur foxes: development of the on-farm welfare assessment scheme for foxes;J. Mononen et al.-WelFur foxes: the inter-observer reliability of the WelFur health measures, and the prevalence of health disorders on fox farms during the growth period;L.K. Ahola et al.-WelFur foxes: do feeding test, temperament test and a measure of stereotypic behaviour differentiate between farms?;T. Koistinen et al.-Electrophysiological indices in mink (Neovison vison) during CO and CO2 euthanasia;H.T. Korhonen et al.-Applying Welfare Quality® strategy to design a welfare assessment tool for foxes and mink farms;R. Botreau et al.-WelFur mink: inter-observer reliability of on-farm welfare assessment in the growth season;S.H. Moller et al.-Part 6. Short communications;Lessons learned from not fattening juvenile mink kept as future breeders;S.H. Moller.-Effect of dietary protein level during preparative mating period in female minks;Q.K. Jiang et al.-Effect of dietary protein level during gestation period in female minks;Q.K. Jiang et al.-Effect of dietary protein level during lactation period in female minks;Q.K. Jiang et al.-Effects of dietary protein levels and implanted melatonin on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters and nutrient digestibility of minks (Mustela vison);X. Song et al.-Effect of different diet protein levels on the digestibility and metabolism of nutritions and growth performance in young male mink;T.T. Zhang, X.H. Gao

Preliminary determination and analysis of 12 serum biochemical parameters in mink (Mustela vison);X. Song et al.-Detection of the Aleutian mink disease virus DNA and anti-viral antibodies in experimentally infected mink 10 days post-inoculation;A.H. Farid et al.-Aleutian mink disease virus in furbearing mammals in Nova Scotia, Canada;A.H. Farid.-A real-time polymerase chain reaction assay for the quantification of the Aleutian mink disease virus;A.H. Farid, P.P. Rupasinghe.-Status of Aleutian mink disease virus in Denmark;J. Ostergaard, T.H. Jensen.-The assembly of the mink blood transcriptoms generated by the next generation sequencing using the dog genome;A.H. Farid et al.-Simple year-round cage enrichments for mink;G.J. Mason.-Elevated resting bunks for nursing mink dams;G.J. Mason.-Keyword index.