Improvement of ferret fur pelt quality by using products of recycling raw materials of animal origin

The waste materials of manufacture of basic animal products are adverse anthropogenic factors affecting environment and, at the same time, they are a source of valuable biologically active substances which can be used. We developed a protocol for complex application of biologically active recycling products, collagen and keratin, obtained by original patented technologies from recycled waste materials of leather and textile industries in combination with melatonin (original modified preparation) for using in ferret breeding. The preparation Melacoll is a stabilized complex of melatonin and collagen. Melacoll has a prolonged effect (up to 4 months) and the toxicity class 4. The keratin-containing substance quality (more than 95 % keratin) makes it possible to use this additive as a protein supplement to fodder. In combined application of Melacoll and keratin we observed the uniform and statistically reliable weight gain of animals during 4 months exceeding the indices obtained for both small and large doses of keratin (from about 0.59 kg to 2.63±0.13 kg, t obs > t table). By month 5 this index decreased which showed completion of animal development and achieving the slaughter weight one month earlier than the standard slaughter terms. Higher concentrations of implanted Melacoll promoted the increase in pelt size. In farm trials, application of Melacoll and keratine led to a reliable 12 % increase in pelt size as compared to the control. The pelt lifetime defects (e.g. broken guard hair) in Melacoll-implanted ferrets was the greatest (37.5 %) whereas in the animals fed with keratin as the fodder additive these defects were the smallest (12.5 %) due to the standard diet enriched with sulphur-containing amino-acids which are responsible for hair strength. Complex use of keratin and Melacoll reliably increased hair density while Melacoll itself did not exert any marked effect on this trait. Optimal concentration of the proposed keratin-containing supplement to the ration in raising slaughter ferret youngsters is 0.6 %, and that of Melacoll is 1 ml of 6 mg/ml substance.