Advice from a vegetarian?

Question

I am tossing around the idea of going vegetarian, if not vegan...I understand that some people don't eat eggs or consume milk products because of the exploitation of the birds/cows...How do these people feel about eggs from chickens that are kept as pets, and without a rooster so they are not risking killing a baby chick, or milk from a cow that is kept as a pet? I just wondered if this type of situation makes a difference in how vegans feel about about eating eggs/milk...

for example...my nephews have 2 pet hens and the hens have free run of their 6 acres of land. They usually lay an egg a day. Sometimes found, sometimes not. The found ones are eaten. The others, which aren't fertilized, just rot wherever they are. These hens have a custom built travel crate that they are been evacuated from the gulf coast on 3 occasions. How can eating their eggs be unethical?

Answer 1

I live a vegan lifestyle, but enjoy the gift of milk from my pampered cow, Abigail. She produces way more milk then her calf needs, and would become engorged if not milked. When she doesnt have a calf, I forgo the milk. (when that happens I get if from my local food co op) I am allergic to eggs, but feed them to my 12 year old vegetarian daughter. We get them from a friend that cares well for them, and they run free. Since the eggs are unfertilized, the hen discards it, and I think it would be a waste to leave them lying on the ground. I think its perfecly okay to consume milk and eggs in this manner. I churn my cream into butter, and make homemade cheese with it. I can find no guilt issues at all with this way of thinking.

Answer 2

Honestly, I wouldn't eat the unfertilized egg from a chicken that was my pet, or the milk from a pet cow.
First of all, I have a pet bird, a parrot. She lays eggs during certain times of the year. They are not fertilized, so they are pretty much the same thing that you get when you buy them at the store (only smaller) if she was a chicken, I would not eat her eggs. I know that the eggs would be wasted anyway, but she thinks that the egg is a baby bird I mean she sits on it and everything. It is sad when we have to take the egg out, because she thinks it is her baby. I could not personally bring myself to eat it, and just the thought of where it came out of... would make me gag...lol. (plus I don't like the taste of eggs)
As far as cows I would never drink raw milk, yuck! I don't think it is very good for you anyway.
Plus there is still the fact that you are taking the milk/eggs from the animal... And there is no need to, because I am perfectly healthy without milk and eggs and I would rather not be eating them.

Answer 3

Whether you would eat the egg is totally up to you; however, if you do eat the eggs, you would be a vegetarian and not a vegan. Vegans by definition do not use or eat animal products, even if it is from the happiest animal in the world.

You do not have to rush all at once; many people take vegan/vegetarianism in steps. If you need eggs for a while or forever), it is far better they come from those happy chickens instead of factory farm chickens. Many vegetarians eat eggs from chickens living in hideous conditions.

In a way, I think it would be even harder to eat the egg once you *know* the chicken... part of what allows us to to the things we do to animals is that we are totally disassociated from them as living beings. But as I said, it would still be far less cruel.

Edit- Cow milk would be very unethical. Like females from all other species, if she is lactating, she has a baby who would very much like that milk. Cows do not *need* to be milked unless they are given drugs to make them produce more than is needed to care for a baby. Like women everywhere, cows can handle their breast milk just fine without people stealing it.

Again, happy cows would be *less* cruel than factory cows, but cows do not simply find themselves with an abundance of breast milk like chickens produce extra, unused eggs.

Good luck with your path and whatever you choose.
:)

Answer 4

First the cow:

Cows produce milk to feed their young, but this requires them to have young (or at least to become pregnant.) You will need to do something with the calves, and if you also don't have a pet bull, you'll need to artificially inseminate the cow. (Think turkey baster in the "lady parts") Typically the male calves get sold for veal, and the female calves are used for milking.

Onto the hen:
This is a little bit different as you don't have to do anything for a hen to lay an egg, it will happen on its own. If you get a hen bred to lay eggs, it will suffer from calcium depletion from laying too many. Rescued chickens at United Poultry Concerns and Farm Sanctuary produce lots and lots of eggs.

What happens to those eggs? They're boiled in their shells, ground up, and fed back to the chickens. Gross, I know, but it helps prevent arthritis and osteropersosis in the birds.

So if you're planning on getting a hen bred to produce eggs, plan on taking only about 10% of the eggs and finding a way to restore calcium to their diet as the sanctuaries do.


My gf and I would like to have a sanctuary some day. We won't be eating the eggs or drinking the milk.

Answer 5

For me, veganism is taking a stand against animal cruelty and living my activism every single time I eat something. If I were to occasionally eat eggs or drink milk it would send a confusing message to people who were interested in veganism. (plus just think about it for a minute - eating secretions from an animal is gross!!)

Chickens and cows, even in the best circumstances, do not produce eggs and milk for us to take - these things do not belong to us. We do not need to steal something that isn't ours to have a happy healthful life.

Going vegan is the best choice to make if you love animals and you want to make a difference!

Answer 6

Eating products that come from an animal you own is completely different. Chances are, if it's a pet...you aren't mistreating it. The reason vegans don't eat milk, cheese, etc. is because the animal is still mistreated in the process. Cows are forced to live cramped in tiny fields with so many other cows, they can't live a normal, happy life. When you buy eggs from the store, they are coming from a chicken that was crammed into a tiny 2' by 2' cage with four other chickens. I've seen footage of workers literally throwing chickens like baseballs into their cages. Actually, owning your own farm animals to make your own products is a vegetarian's dream.

Answer 7

If there is no exploitation, suffering, or violation of said animals rights, then it is perfectly ethical.

However, the situation is much more complicated than that.

Regardless of the caretaker's intentions, I very much doubt that companion chickens are kept in a way that doesn't oppress them, and the use of cow's milk deprives the calf of his mother's milk.

Some say that domestication of animals is inherently cruel.

Looks like your getting into Animal Rights philosophy. I haven't read it yet (its sitting on my desk teasing me) but I suggest you read Animal Liberation by Peter Singer (library time??). Its the seminal work from which that kind of thinking originated. Tom Regan is supposed to be good readz as well.

Answer 8

it incredibly is likewise why i desperate to alter into vegetarian and much extra on the muse that theres no want for us to take the lives of residing issues as quickly as we don't would desire to anymore. What helped me became into additionally sorting out the different reward like wellbeing and environmental. I additionally reminded mysylf why i became into doing it continually via listening to podcasts, documentaries, and analyzing books. yet another component that helped me became into finding great vegetarian ideas to my well known issues as nicely as eating places in my city that have been completly vegetarian/vegan. I made an entire weblog pertaining to those matters and a superb type of others while becoming to be vegetarian. good success!

Answer 9

If I had my own chickens I would probably eat the eggs,but I don't really like the idea of eating a chicken's period.If they are well taken care of then I don't think there is anything wrong with it,but I still wouldn't drink milk from a cow.

Answer 10

I just became a vegan and I think that it depends on the person whether they think that is okay or not.