I agree with Shona that feeding prey animals to ferrets becomes easier
after you have done it a couple of times.
 
The first time I defrosted day-old chicks, they looked so cute and fluffy
that I wanted to resuscitate them, not feed them to my carnivores.  They
were way past resuscitation, of course, so the fuzzies had a lovely feed
on the front lawn while I hid inside.  The trouble was that I had
defrosted too many so it seemed that for the next few days, every time I
moved furniture or bedding, there was a fluffy reminder of what I had
done.
 
A couple of weeks later, I steeled myself to do it again and it was much
easier for me and a total blast for the ferrets.
 
Last year, I introduced a litter of 12 week old kits to whole chicks for
the first time.  They had been fed chopped up meat until then and played
with stuffed toys with bells in them.  They grabbed the chicks and shook
them vigorously in an effort to make them jingle!!  It was hilarious.
They soon discovered what good food it was and today they are the biggest
healthiest ferrets anywhere.
 
I am a very sensitive person, yet was able to "get over" feeding whole
prey for the betterment of my fuzzies' health.  I hope you can too.
 
Shirley
[Posted in FML issue 4727]