The Rural Voice, 1979-12, Page 9that he has had an average of 4.6 at one time, but that didn't
benefit him much as the price that year was a disaster. The
young grow fast and are weaned in mid-June, when they are put
two to a cage. The reason for this is that it saves half the work in
caring for the animals. They seem also to eat better and hence
grow faster. But by September they have to be separated for by
then the natural instinct to be alone exerts itself and fighting
could ruin the newly growing fur.
The big freezer is stacked with large cakes of slaughter -house
offal, such as tripe, lungs, liver, chicken offal and also with
cartons of dried eggpowder. This is all mixed in the proper
proportions with a commercial mink cereal.
John Nairn takes great care with this feed, for mink are very
susceptible to spoiled ingredients. As a precaution all mink are
vaccinated several times during the year against botulism,
enteritis and distemper.
In the beginning of December, depending on the weather, the
pelts are prime, meaning that the underfur is full and the guard
hair is firm and glossy.
Then begins the less pleasant part of the annual operation.
The animals not reserved for breeding are taken out of the cage
and given an injection with strychnine. Their death is quick, and
usually they are dead by the time they are laid down and the next
one is caught.
The pelting season at the Nairn ranch is frantic, for all mink
have to be pelted at the peak of their prime. A dozen people are
employed at that time to skin, flesh, drum and stretch and John
Nairn makes sure that his pelts go in the best possible condition
to the fur auction, where buyers from every corner of the earth
come to bid on quality Canadian mink.
John Nairn is well satisfied with the prices his pelts
commanded in the last three years. His average price last year
was $48.50 and he considers this a good price.
The lowest price he got was when he had just started in this
venture. In 1967 he averaged less than $12 per pelt and that just
doesn't pay for feed that costs about 15c a pound.
These days he is keeping a close tab on the temperature for his
cages are all provided with water from automatic drinking
nipples and a bit of frost will soon dry up the supply.
To water the animals in wintertime he has come up with a
labour saving method. Instead of going around with hot water to
supply his mink, he has bags and bags of ice blocks stored in the
freezer. When watering through the pipeline becomes
impossible, he simply gives each pen a block of ice to make their
own water.
The time between breeding and pelting he uses fruitfully on
his 250 acres to cash -crop malting barley, wheat, corn and,
sometimes, beans.
More and more rabbits
BY ADRIAN VOS
Every other year, the "Mother's Club," of Wingham take
their pre-schoolers to "Sleepy Hollow" rabbitry.
Often, when area people have oversea visitors, they take them
to this unusual farm at RR #3, Wingham in the northend of East
Wawanosh Township in Huron County.
Lyndon and Joan Hunter, with their infant son Wayne. have a
variety of small animals, some running loose and others in cages.
Animal lovers that they are, they have pheasants and fancy
chickens; loose and caged rabbits; geese and even a pair of
deodorized skunks.
They manufacture equipment that is shipped the length and
breadth of Canada and are justifiably proud of their quiet
achievements.
Lyndon Hunter came to Huron County from New Brunswick
via the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec ten years ago.
He got himself a job as trucker for the Teeswater Creamery.
picking up cans of milk from the dairy farms in the area. But with
the advent of the refrigerated bulk tank, his job went the way of
the Amish milk producers.
The Hunters had been raising rabbits for the meat trade as a
sideline where Mr. Hunter made his own cages. Now, with time
on his hands and no desire to be idle, he offered his cages for
sale to other rabbit people. Because of the high quality product
he turned out, they sold well.
At the same time they decided to go in for rabbit raising in a
big, commercial way. The old barn on the property was beyond
repair so they decided to build a new steel clad building on the
west side of the old barn.
Meanwhile, the demand for cages was becoming so great that
it was getting to be a full-time job to keep up with the orders.
Secondhand equipment sales were scoured for some machinery
to help with the job. Now they have a rivetter, a brake, shears an
and roller, bender and whatever helps to speed up the job. Since
there is no competition for the type of equipment they turn out,
even with all this machinery they are hard put to keep up with
the demand.
The idea of the new building as a rabbitry has been
abandoned. Instead it will be made into a cage factory.
The range of product is astounding. They make besides the
rabbit cages, rabbit feeders, both Targe and small for the little
fry. Drinkers, cages for hamsters, chinchillas, budgies and
ferrets. Cages for such uses as dog carriers; parrots and even for
a fisherman to keep his beer cool while he is fishing. They
make fur stretchers for trappers and live traps in different sizes
for weasels, rabbits, muskrats, 'coons and of course rats and
mice.
There doesn't seem to be anything to be made from
sheetmetal and/or wire that they wouldn't produce if there is a
market.
When they started their business they had an old rusty pick-up
with which they took their cages to the Kitchener and Stouffville
farmers' markets. The truck broke down often and had finally to
be scrapped altogether. Then they purchased a flatbed truck, but
it was hard to keep their products from falling off. Finally
business was developed sufficiently to justify the present six-ton
truck with enclosed body.
Anyone who might think that the Hunters live an idyllic and
easy life better think again. It happens frequently that they are
completely sold out at the Thursday market in Kitchener. In
order to keep their committments for the Stouffville market on
Saturday they have to work all day Friday, sometimes into the
wee hours of Saturday morning, and be up again at 3:30 a.m. in
order to be on time for the Stouffville market.
The remainder of their product is sold to Elmer Trick of
Clinton, who retails and wholesales the Hunter cages across
Canada.
With the purchase of cages, Lyndon will freely give advice on
the proper way of raising rabbits. "There's a lot to know that's
not in any book you buy," he maintains, and he is thinking of
writing a book on rabbit farming that not only contains the
favourable things of this growing branch of agriculture, but also
warns of the possible pitfalls. "Many people seem to think that
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1979 PG. 7