Would you?

[Cherry Sparkle]

If you are or were a vegan would you eat an egg from a chicken in this situation:
You own the chicken.
It lays chick free eggs like normal chickens do.
It lives in your yard with plenty of room and a large enclosure for sleeping.
It is not forced to lay or harmed in any way.
It has another chicken friend so it does not get lonely.
It is perfectly healthy.

Just wondered what you would do. I am going to become a loose vegan (i will stay away from eating those kinds of foods as much as i can) because my mum is strict about my growth and will not allow me to go full vegan. I am a vegetarion. eg. i eat toast in the morning with soy butter instead of milk and cereal. (i do not have soya milk in the house as mum will only allow soy butter )

[FoolOnTheHill]

I'm only a vegetarian but if I was a vegan then I'd eat those eggs. Why not? You know where they come from, the chickens are healthy and happy and if you leave it it will rot and that would be a waste.

[socal805]

Well if you are a vegan then you would not eat eggs at all, no matter where they come from. True vegans consume no animal products at all. So by eating those eggs you cannot call yourself a vegan! I'm not vegan but I am a vegetarian so I would eat those eggs!

[FoolOnTheHill]

Well yeah but you know I'd be a 99% vegan!

[Maisiepaisie]

I'd rather give the eggs to someone who would otherwise buy battery farm eggs. I have no desire to eat anything that came from a chickens bum!

[thalestral]

If the chickens were rescue animals and no male chicken was present then I think it would be ethically okay for a strict vegetarian to consume the eggs.

As for myself, despite eggs being one of my favourite foods in the past, I would pass. The idea of them from a purely food point of view turns my stomach these days I would pass them on to those of my family, friends and neighbours who would otherwise purchase store bought eggs - only after the chickens had consumed enough of them themselves though.

You see, many of our chicken species have been bred to lay too much and this deprives them of nutrients that their bodies really need. It is common practise on farm sanctuaries to feed the eggs back to the chickens - also a practise used by wild birds in times of hardship.

[LucyJane]

We have four chickens (pets, no roosters, they have free daytime run of the yard, weather permitting.) It's funny, mine would never eat or damage a whole egg, but if one is cracked or broken, you should see the frenzy to gobble it up! I think it also has to do with hiding from predators. Lots of animals eat all birth evidence not just for the nutrition but for this reason.
Oh, and I am not vegan, but I do eat their eggs. After you have had truly *fresh* ( as in, that hour fresh) going back to store eggs is not an option.
(Edited to say) We do feed their shells back to them. They eat these before even their favorite treats.

[FoolOnTheHill]

Why is eating those eggs disgusting? Otherwise they would go to waste.

[thalestral]

Eating them is not so much disgusting (though I'm sure, debatable), the idea of me eating them turns my stomach. I just have no desire to eat them again, the flavour and texture are gross to me now - and again, this was a favourite food of mine. Plus since going vegan I've learned so much about my health that I don't really have a good reason to eat them anyway.

I plan on having rescue chickens when we eventually move up north in the far future. Any left overs can go to neighbours that want 'em.

[HowietheGreat]

Eating a embryo sac grosses me out now too. I'm a long time vegatarian but I never eat scrambled eggs or the like. I try to avoid it in baked goods when possible. Just the thought of what it is grosses me out. I think that for vegatarians, your suggested situation would pose no problems and I like the idea of giving the eggs to family and friends. I wouldn't mind having some chickens (do rescue ones exist?) one day either.

[nismosmama]

I probably still wouldn't eat them. I'm vegan and that would just completely go against the definition of being vegan.

I was watching something on Animal Planet the other day where thousands of chickens were rescued from a natural disaster situation. Well hundreds went to a rescue. The owner of the rescue said she doesn't eat the eggs, but she does feed them to other farm animals on her large farm, so they don't go to waste. That sounds like a pretty fair thing to do with them.

[Percy's Mom]

I would love to have a couple of chickens, but I'm pretty sure it's not exactly legal to have farm animals where I live. Fresh eggs would be wonderful.

To answer the original question though, there really ISN'T a question. If you're a vegan, it wouldn't matter where the eggs came from. You still wouldn't eat them.

[LucyJane]

Originally Posted by Percy's Mom

I'm pretty sure it's not exactly legal to have farm animals where I live.

Shhhh... Only if someone complains. The secret is to hook your neighbors on really fresh eggs, and no one will say a word!

We feed the eggs that we don't use or give away back to our chickens, but we have to break them first. I've also thought about contacting a food pantry and seeing if they'd want them. I wouldn't want to just let them spoil, or throw them away.

[Percy's Mom]

If I could get away with it, believe me, I would try. I was looking at the classifieds on Petfinder the other day, and saw a couple of chickens for adoption not too far from me. I KNOW that someone in our Home Owner's Association would go ballistic on me and say something though.