EN
Selection, one of the more important stages in fur animal breeding, is based on the phenotype of the animals only. Although a phenotype-based evaluation is the quickest and the simplest method that can be carried out in an on-farm environment, the results of such an evaluation, however, remain reliable exclusively in relation to highly heritable traits. The material comprised data collected from the breeding documentation of a standard mink reproduction farm and referred to 12 generations of animals. The covariance components of reproduction and conformation traits were estimated by means of the REML method based on a multitrait animal model, using the DMU software package. The components were used for a BLUP-based estimation of the breeding value of the animals. The genetic trends considerably differed from the phenotypic ones.