Submitted by: Devonna Edwards

While reading the Halifax City Directory for the year 1930, I was surprised to see listed, “Maritime Fur Farms Ltd.” located on Dutch Village Road in Fairview. Curious to find out more about this farm I contacted Ken Bell, Champion Curler and winner of the Canadian Sailor Award and also a long time resident of Fairview. His memory is remarkable, as a child he lived in a house on the corner of Dutch Village Road and Bayers Road in Fairview before moving to Sunnybrae Avenue. He confirmed that there was a mink Farm there at one time. He was born in 1935 and said that it was out of operation when he was growing up, but remembers the barn still being there. A Mink barn was not like any ordinary barn, the structure was quite distinct because it was long and narrow in design, made of wood and was of a dark grey colour.

Ken said it was located behind the old William Deal house on the bottom of Melrose Avenue, on the west corner of Dutch Village Road, today known as Westerwald Street. The house standing there today is said to have the old foundation and possibly containing the frame of the original structure, making it the oldest dwelling in Fairview. William Deal along with managing the omnibus line, also had an ice cutting business. He cut ice from the pond behind his house, which later became known as Devlin’s Pond located between Melrose Avenue and Sunnybrae Avenue. He learned the business from his father Richard (Dick) Deal who taught him how to cut the ice on Deal’s Pond, located near Bayers Road where Joseph Howe Avenue is today.   

William Deal’s son Fred and his family were willed the house after William died in 1904. Fred Deal must have ran the Mink Ranch, as it was known locally as the Deal’s Mink Farm. The farm may have been there possibly before 1928, but the only listing I could find for the fur farm was the years 1928-1930. 
Mink fur has been highly valued throughout history, leading to their domestication and farming. Mink Farming was once a vital part of Nova Scotia’s rural economy and today Nova Scotia Mink is among the top agricultural exports in the province. Mink Farming contributed $54 Million to the Nova Scotia economy in 2016, that same year our province shipped approximately 1.4 million pelts to global markets with China, Korea and Russia being the largest buyers. 

The Fur Farming industry had been in decline in recent years and in 2020 Nova Scotia Mink industry made less then $9 Million in profit despite the government funds given to help support them. In 2020 the average price for a Mink pelt was $26.00 where years ago a single pelt sold for $100.00.
In 1914 there were 70 names in all who had taken out permits to ranch mink and by 1939 the Federal Government listed 249 Nova Scotia Mink Ranchers. Today there are 116 Licensed Mink Farmers in Nova Scotia. Up to 1910 Fur farming was mostly practiced in the Maritime Provinces, but today they are mostly located in Nova Scotia, Ontario, New Foundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Quebec. British Columbia became the first province in Canada to ban Mink Farming in 2021. David McRae was the earliest known Mink Rancher in Nova Scotia, he was from West Middle River, Victoria County, he began to ranch mink before the 1920s until he closed down his business around 1940.

Mink Farming of long ago started their business catching wild Mink for pelts, but today the Mink are grown domestically. 
Mink are the most commonly farm raised fur bearers in North America and owners of the farms must follow a national animal welfare code, that includes putting them to sleep with Carbon Monoxide gas when it is time to collect their pelts. The business is not without controversy, some people believe that these animals should not be kept in small wire cages without their freedom to roam in a natural environment and killing them to solely provide luxury fashion products. Pelts are turned into coats, hats and accessories and destined for the catwalks of Milan, Italy and New York.

Mink Farming requires intense physical labour, pens built for mink have to be cleaned and repaired regularly, also the small creatures have to be fed and watered daily. Mink must be handled with care, because they are quick to bite so farmers have to wear thick leather mitts when handling adults. Mink barns or sheds are not heated but the mink are protected from direct sunlight and wind. Adult mink are housed in separate wire mesh pens, while mothers are provided with a nest box for the breeding season. In earlier years the principal feed was fish, such as eels in the summer time and in  winter they were fed horse meat and rabbits and all foods had to be mashed up. Today their diet consists of mostly animal based protein and they are fed grind up waste from fish and poultry processing plants and slaughterhouses. They are also given vitamins, minerals and are vaccinated, which all contribute to a healthy shiny coat and in turn a better quality pelt that can fetch a higher price on the market. Their coats come in many colour variations, blackish and light-towny, dark black, mahogany, pastel, buff, sapphire and white among others due to selective breeding.
Breeding takes place once a year during late February and early March, with the females giving birth to a litter of up to 12 kits during late April and early may.  

Mink farmers use waste products to provide valuable fertilizer and nutrients to other agricultural industries. Nova Scotia Agriculture College in Truro have a working Mink Farm located there and provide an interesting video on ‘YouTube’ to show the day to day running of a Mink Ranch. The video “Visit a Mink Farm in Nova Scotia” is produced by the North America Fur Auctions (NAFA).

While walking in De Wolf Park in Bedford two years ago, I saw a Mink among the rocks lining the shore. I was told that several Minks were let loose in that area to keep the rodent population down along the shore line.  A few summers ago at dusk I have seen the rocks along the shore seemingly move, but that vision was due to the many rats crawling among the rocks at that time of night. Mink are among the most effective predators of rats and  their unique hunting style, agility and relentless nature make them deadly opponents. Mink are excellent swimmers and their keen sense of smell, hearing and vision along with their persistence makes them effective hunters of rats. They also have razor sharp teeth and claws which assist them in catching and eating their prey.