Is it wrong to eat eggs from pet chickens? Would it still be considered vegan?

Anonymous

By definition, that would not be vegan, but that's fine. It doesn't make you cool or anything to be labeled "vegan". You would be an Ovo-vegetarian. I think it's fine.

EatItOrWearIt

No, it would not be vegan, but yes, they would be eggs made without cruelty.

Anonymous

Eat what you want. And don't get hung up on a label. You know they are not cruelly obtained eggs.

Anonymous

You can't redefine the word "vegan" to suit yourself! A vegan consumes no animal products at all. If you eat eggs then you're obviously not vegan. Added, just to correct an idiotic answer you have from someone who obviously knows nothing about chickens: The vast majority of domesticated chickens have no "maternal instincts" at all. I have kept chickens, on and off, for around fifty years. I have kept pure breeds, first crosses and hybrids and I have NEVER once had a broody hen. They lay an egg and then get up without giving it a second thought. Chickens do not, "want to mate and raise chickens of their own"! Having a male present would make no difference at all. Whether or not chickens are "innocent" is debatable but you do not have to "keep them alive", living things stay alive of their own accord. Chickens do not have a great deal of intelligence and most of what they do is based on instinct but they certainly do not run around "aimlessly". They enjoy looking for insects, snails, worms etc. to eat (mice too if they can find them), scratching in the grass, making dust baths and simply being alive. There is nothing at all "unnatural" about a garden so far as a domesticated chicken goes - it is an ideal habitat for it. Producing eggs is not any kind of "burdon" - that's what they do! There are no such things as "natural fowl chickens" or "industry chickens". Pure bred chickens and first crosses are still available but my experience tells me that nowadays they are very poor egg layers and nor vigorous or healthy. The majority of chickens easily available are hybrids. That is what we have kept for the last thirty years or so (usually six at a time). Their egg production is very impressive but there is nothing "unsustainable" or "damaging" about it. Again, that's what domestic chickens do! We bought our last lot of hybrid hens around six years ago. They were prolific layers, healthy and docile. We still have one left. She occasionally lays an egg but it is very thin shelled. We imagine that, like her comrades, she will look "under the weather for a day or two" and then will die in her sleep. If you keep laying hens good husbandry is essential. Eggs should be collected as soon as possible after they are layed. Under no circumstances should hens be given the opportunity to break or eat eggs. "Egg eating" is a serious vice which is almost always the result of poor care. A hen has no idea as to whether an egg is fertilised or not. An egg contains no nutrients at all that are not provided by a good diet.

babyboomer1001

Eggs are a super protein. Go ahead and eat them. Chickens (females) lay eggs even when they are not fertilized. So if you do not have a rooster who is fertilizing them, then you aren't killing anything. An egg is a gift from the chicken. It is like giving back. You feed them, care for them, love then and it's your gift in return. I love chickens.

Emily Rose

Anything with chicken, beef, etc. is not being vegan.

Anonymous

eggs are never vegan. people who raise pet chickens usually don't raise any males. typically it is even illegal to have males within a city's limits. guess what happens to all those surplus male chickens of the egg laying breeds?

Janet

Eggs are NEVER a vegan food. So maybe you don't need to be a vegan. You just need to ensure that the animal was raised humanely and butchered humanely. You know .. many local farmers have figured out that raising their animals humanely is a good way to compete with huge agri-businesses. Since the small farmers don't make as much money, they can make ENOUGH if they raise and sell organic produce and animals that have been raised on organic feed and with humane conditions. Plus, you can often go out and see the conditions themselves. Don't confuse being vegan with being concerned about animal cruelty.

ckngbbbls

Either eat them or sell them to buy food for them. Its up to you. If you don't do anything with them, they simply go to waste.

Sara

Unless you have a rooster in with your hens, there's no point in leaving eggs with a brooding hen. All you'll get is a hen that's lost body condition for no reason and rotten eggs.

p

Being Vegan means … NOT to eat ANYTHING that comes from animals - PERIOD. It does not matter the reason.

Christopher

Lol 😂 whatever

I Hate Peas

It wouldn't be vegan but it would be guilt-free as you know where the eggs and meat (if you choose to breed chickens for meat) are coming from. It's the best idea for people who don't want to give up meat but don't like not knowing where their food is from.

Daisy

No, It's not wrong to eat eggs.....from pet chickens or commercial chickens. No, it's not vegan to eat any eggs.

J C

Eggs are not vegan, and very few vegans will even keep pet chickens. But they would be excellent eggs for a lacto-ovo vegetarian. They are cruelty free eggs. It would be very wrong for anyone to keep chickens and then waste the eggs. If there is a rooster, they would also soon be overrun with chickens.

J

The reason it's not Vegan is because when you leave the egg the chicken eats the egg to get back those nutrients they used, so you're taking their food. Plus it's unhealthy for humans as it's full of cholesterol.

monkienutz

So you say you're vegan but you think it's ok to enslave the chickens? If you cared for the chickens you would let them be. But you want to profit from them. You're an absolute hypocrite. Why not get a baby cow and milk it. Or a lamb? Or maybe some fish in a pond? I eat home grown meat and I'm not ashamed. Stop with your pretentious rubbish.

STEPHEN

" I would still consider it vegan" Well. You would be wrong.

Anonymous

It would not be vegan but you could describe yourself as strict ovovegetarian, perhaps qualifying this by adding you only eat the eggs from your own chickens. You may need to explain that they are infertile [not embryonic chickens] as your hens have been nowhere near a rooster.

jean

I commend you for not liking cruelty to animals.

?

its never wrong to eat eggs or meat for that matter. and no, its not vegan.

Anonymous

Vegans don't eat anything from a animal lol BUT I DO

magic kid

Well there are a few layers to this question. First of all is it fair to have 3 female hens live their life not being able to carry out their maternal instincts? They want to mate and raise chicks of their own. And Unless you get a male, that will not happen, and what will happen to the chicks they raise? So now you have the problem of keeping these innocent animals alive purely because you like how they look, running around aimlessly in your very enclosed unnatural habitat of a garden. With the added burden of them producing those eggs. Ignoring all of the above, do you have more natural fowl chickens, or offspring from industry chickens? Industry chicken lay eggs at an unsustainable, emotionally, and physically damaging rate. That is one moral tree we do not have to go down, cus I don't know if its a good thing or bad thing that you are keeping them alive. If they are more natural fowl chickens, will you wait a few days before collecting those eggs? When they lay eggs that are not fertilized, they will consume them to replenish all of the expended energy, nutrients and minerals. These are things that you and everyone should think about. Now onto calling yourself Vegan. I am Plant Based, I do not consume animals based on logic, and evidence based research supporting that humans are not designed to eat meat. I also take into consideration that we have no business removing trillions of fish from our oceans, raising and killing billions of animals destroying our planet, and misusing resources that humans could enjoy. I have issues with my disgust sensitivity such as germs, bodily fluids, and this makes me dislike contact with animals, However I fully recognize that the some have been bred to be cute, I also recognize they have the right to live out their lives as naturally as possible, and no sentient creature deserves to be enslaved, abused, mistreated for personal gain. I even had to get over my fear of spiders so I could stop killing them. Veganism is not a diet, It is an ideology, lifestyle, and how you interact with the world we live in. My opinion may be invalid, but on the givens, I do not think anyone who interferes with an animal in a negative way can call themselves vegan. I also would not consider you to be vegan, not because you are ingesting "cruelty free" eggs, but by how you view them as a product producing thing. (you do not have to agree with me, but please tell me how I am wrong in my thinking if you don't) Based on my personal logical thinking, I do not consider these practices vegan (Rescues are partially exempt, that is such a big moral tree too.) Buying pets that have been bred just for you to own them. Neutering or spaying pets just so you can own them without having to worry about them having offspring. people who own carnivorous pets such as cats, if they are outdoor cats they would not exist in your local ecosystem, and they kill beautiful native birds, and then we are only left with ugly pigeons lol. Okay being serious, I know how stupid it can get, following that logic it would not be vegan to live in the city because that land used to be an entire ecosystem, I get it.. but those are gray areas, but an interesting conversation to have right?? Shadow neggin is intellectually lame, and shows you have no ability to formulate valid arguments for the views you choose to have. Why do you disagree? Use your brain and have a discussion, it is why we are all here. do da rite ting. I will help you structure an opening response. "Hi, I disagree with point A because.. I believe this makes more sense because.." Either way thanks for proving my point shadow neggers

Terry

Eggs come from a chicken`s butt hole. They use the same hole to poop, pee, and lay eggs out of. It`s called the cloaca. ENJOY!

John

I once heard a Buddhist priest (whatever you would call them) talk about royal honey which was popular at the time for vegans to eat to get nutrition as being cruel to eat. The reason was the queen makes it for her babies to eat and then you steal it. In turn that kinda says to me that eating old male animals is not cruel, but I digress. Eggs and any fruiting body with a seed is eating the whole baby or wasting it. But otherwise, this is food that would go down the drain like a human menstruation. Is it cruel to eat the food "god" just left lying around or waste it? I guess that depends.

Louis

It definitely is not vegan to eat eggs. Although an argument can be made that its ok from Backyard chickens, that argument has several main problems. Basically your health, your chicken's health, and ethics. First of all, eggs are not particularly healthy. They are not essential. They are not necessary. So you don't need them. Just let the chickens keep them. Laying eggs can be detrimental to a chicken's health. They will lay fewer eggs if they aren't taking away. And they can cannibalize their own eggs to replenish nutrients. If you take them away they can't do that. You don't eat dogs puppies. Or cat's kittens. Why would it be ok to eat the chickens' babies? Hens don't make eggs for us. Anyway, it's a complicated issue and I'm not going to try and tell you not to do it. but since you asked.... it's not considered vegan to eat eggs. For a better explanation check out this article and video http://www.bitesizevegan.org/vegan-health/can-vegans-eat-eggs-from-backyard-chickens-veggans/