I absolutely respect the opinions of folk who cannot bring themselves to feed pre-killed small whole prey such as mice and chicks. I used to be there. It was a huge step for me to take because I love all animals, have hand-reared my own hens from eggs and had mice and rats as pets. I have also had pet calves and, in my youth, a pet lamb called Leadbelly. Nevertheless, I eat meat. It was only by the support of a dear friend who showed me the benefits to the ferrets that made me try to change my mind-set. Ferrets thrive on small whole prey and it doesn't matter what I think. Nowadays I can feed small whole prey knowing that they were humanely kept and euthanised. This is probably more than I can say for the animals that provided the meat that I eat myself or that is in processed pet food. At the moment, my greatest heroes are those who, despite being vegetarians themselves, still feed their ferrets a suitable diet and one lady who used to gag while cutting up chicken pieces, now feeds small whole prey. What a huge step in trying to provide the best for her ferrets! I do not think any less of people who can't do it, nor do I think that they are better than anyone else. I would hope that people who can't bring themselves to feed whole prey have a similar outlook towards those that can. Shirley [Posted in FML 5413]