The myth of the chicken bones has endured for many years. I don't know why chicken bones have been the bones picked on and the nearest I've been able to come to a conclusion is that humans have always consumed a whole lot chickens in it's history and tossed the bones to the critters. COOKED chicken bones are a big no-no THOSE are what are most likely to cause problems. My dogs have been on a raw meaty bone diet for over 2 years and there are people whose dogs have been on it much longer than that...one of the main staples happens to be chicken for many owners. Whole carcass is best but we do what we can. I am one who encouragse ferret owners to educate themselves about feeding their ferrets a raw natural diet as that is what their little fuzzies were designed to eat. Whole rodents, rabbit, day old chicks, etc. There's just as much danger in eating that fare as there is eating crap in a bowl. I'm sorry, I find kibble disgusting and really I believe there to be more danger in eating that than a natural diet with raw meaty bones and whole carcasses. As far as veterinarians go....Pfffttt. Most of them have a capital interest in what your pet eats, just look in the lobby. How many tell you to feed the Hills Science diet brand of feline food to your ferrets? They're trained to tell you a natural diet is bad mostly to protect their own butts by telling you to feed something "safe and packaged". I know this for a fact since I'm in the field of veterinary medicine and the main reason my doctor will not tell clients that natural diets are best is that they're afraid if anything goes wrong, diet related or not, YOU will blame them and file a lawsuit. The majority of veterinarians are clueless about nutrition and what they know is either taught or sponsored by Hill's. Don't get me started on Hill's, when my website is up you'll read all about them. LOL The vet I work for tends to think he's progressive but yet peddles Purina...*gag*gag* Nothing in life is without risk so I can't very well say that there aren't risks involved in feeding a natural diet to ferrets, of course there are, but to me the risks are far outweighed by the benefits. I see more risks involved in feeding kibble and I feel that I owe it to my ferrets to give them the opportunity to obtain optimum health by not assaulting their little bodies with it and any other chemicals. How about some interesting articles on the subject? http://www.craftycreatures.com/forferretsonly/ferretschool_ferretdiet.html http://www.ferretlove.co.uk/barf.htm http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ferreter/diet.htm Nancy Campbell RVT, VDT Mailto: [log in to unmask] Owner/Moderator: [log in to unmask] "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." ------Margaret Mead [Posted in FML issue 4151]