To ask if eggs can ever be vegan

[GloryforGloves]

Before I discuss, let me share the definition of veganism from the Vegan Society website:

Veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.

So, I understand fully that the egg industry is rubbish. Hens are confined, even if the box says free range; male chicks born as potential breeders are culled; old chickens are slaughtered. As a meat eater who buys into this, I get it’s shit. So I was wondering about alternatives.

Based on the definition above, I think it could be considered vegan to eat eggs from a rescue chicken who was keep in a happy, free range environment - a large back garden with a suitable setup. You are not breeding the animal for a specific purpose and I wouldn’t consider that exploitation as the chicken would lay regardless - in fact you are saving an animal that would have otherwise be slaughtered.
Instead you provide the chicken a comfortable, safe place to live and you enjoy it’s waste product.

I know some (most?) vegans say no animal product at all - but I think there has to be a reason for that stance - if it’s for ethics, then is this unethical?

What are your thoughts? Could rescued, well loved chicken eggs be considered vegan?

My mum says she's vegetarian but also doesn't eat any dairy products, honey etc, but she will use the eggs her chickens lay otherwise they'd get binned! I refer to her as vegan as it's easier then having to explain this. When we're out having food she says she's vegan as she wouldn't consume any animal products including eggs, and it ensures she won't be served any animal products. Technically she isn't vegan, but if she didn't have her own chickens she would be. I on the otherhand am a 5 times failed vegetarian, wishing I could make the switch once and for all 😢

The roadkill question is interesting. I wouldn't eat it, but mainly as a result of finding meat repellent after so many years of not eating it. Morally I'm not sure, but as someone said above I would be worried about depriving scavenging animals of a food source so on balance probably not.

However everyone should draw their own lines according to their own ethics.

This is a really I treat g thread, thanks OP.

Can I ask if strict veganism wouldn't eat eggs at all because the hens have been historically bred to lay, does this also mean you wouldn't have a cat/dog as a pet because they have also be historically domesticated for human purposes?

That’s an interesting definition of a vegan. I teach food and the text books tend to say a vegan is someone who does not eat any animal product. Ethics will likely come into it but isn’t part of the definition itself. By that definition then eggs could never be vegan.

Maybe there needs to be a term for an ethical eater, who will only choose ethically sourced food items which would cater for the eating eggs/animals which had died by natural causes/non intensive farming methods etc (I’ll call it ethicarian )

This came up on the vegan facebook group I was on. It was a question from a vegan whether or not to eat eggs from her mums rescue chickens. One vegan said she wouldn't as it was like eating a baby chicken (other vegans said this was factually incorrect), but all the others said they would. Even the really hardcore vegans ( I think on this group they were all vegan for animal rights reasons).
If you are vegan for animal rights reasons I think it would be compatible with your beliefs, unless you had a very firm view that use of anything from an animal is exploitative.

Of course, some vegans may just find the idea of eggs disgusting - the whole 'chicken period' idea.

FYI as I think it’s imteresting, they are curr ntly developing test tube meat which has been grown in a lab from animal cells. No animals are killed or harmed in the process of developing this product, it’s grown in a lab, but the original cells come from an animal. It’s currently in development for the and future at present an expensive technology (but it’s envisaged it’ll become cheaper as the technology develops). There’s a question of would a vegetarian (or vegan) be prepared to eat it.

@Reastie Yes that's a very exciting prospect for the future of food. And as an ethical vegan I would certainly be prepared to eat it (although I probably wouldn't want to because I'm so used to not eating meat).

I don't think you can be a vegan and eat eggs, but I understand why someone else might. But I do think you can have a cruelty free lifestyle,and eat eggs :)

Following this logic would vegetables produced with the use of pesticides be considered vegan?

You can’t be a vegan if you eat eggs. Ever.

I think veggan is the new buzzword for people who eat plants and free-range eggs.

FYI as I think it’s imteresting, they are curr ntly developing test tube meat which has been grown in a lab from animal cells. No animals are killed or harmed in the process of developing this product, it’s grown in a lab, but the original cells come from an animal. It’s currently in development for the and future at present an expensive technology (but it’s envisaged it’ll become cheaper as the technology develops). There’s a question of would a vegetarian (or vegan) be prepared to eat it.

I would have when I first became veggie, because my reasons were ethical in regards to animal rights/ welfare. I wouldn't now as I just find meat disgusting and have no desire to eat it again.

Reastie That’s very interesting and something I’d quite enjoy discussing at a philosophical level. I wonder if in 100 hundred years that would be our acceptable/ normal sources for food.

This is really interesting OP, I had somehow managed to get a really untrue idea of what being a vegan is about, ie, simply not eating, or wearing animal products.
I do care about the eggs I eat and the meat. The dairy I consume makes me feel the most uneasy, although only since I produced milk for DC and realised how bloody uncomfortable it was. No wonder the cows line themselves up for milking.
I couldn't manage to be a vegan but looking at the impact of my choices is possible.

Do vegans drink wine?

Asking because egg products and sometimes milk are used in the process of winemaking.

To all the people saying you can't be vegan if you eat eggs from rescue chickens. Surely when veganism first came about it was for animal rights/welfare reasons? So eating eggs from rescue chickens is surely compatible with those founding principles?

Free range eggs isn't the same thing though. The hens are still killed once they reach an age when there egg production starts to decline. Rescue hens are kept for their natural life span.

Really, vegans should not keep a cat or dog or any other animal in captivity.

Yet, most conveniently forget this 😏

I have an acquaintance who is vegan, keeps a cat, feeds it solely vegan food and won't allow it outside in case it catches and eats any other animal.

I can't even unpack that thought process even slightly 😆

*Do vegans drink wine?

Asking because egg products and sometimes milk are used in the process of winemaking*

Some wines are vegan. However, a vegan I know said, as he guiltily peered into his pub pint, that alcohol is where many vegans fall down.

Vegans I know feed the head back to their rescue chickens to try to give them back the nutrients they are loosing.

You can’t be a vegan if you eat eggs. Ever.

I struggle to understand this stance without knowing the reason for veganism in the first place. If for ethical reasons it makes no sense. Can a vegan give me a view on this please?

Abra we drink vegan wine. Lots is. And it's fairly easy to check.

FYI as I think it’s imteresting, they are curr ntly developing test tube meat which has been grown in a lab from animal cells. No animals are killed or harmed in the process of developing this product, it’s grown in a lab, but the original cells come from an animal. It’s currently in development for the and future at present an expensive technology (but it’s envisaged it’ll become cheaper as the technology develops). There’s a question of would a vegetarian (or vegan) be prepared to eat it.

Elementary series 4!!!!! SPOILER BELOW

The murder investigation in the fake meat lab was linked to the meat being considered as pure by Jews and Muslims. REALLY interesting from that perspective.

SaucyJack
You can’t be a vegan if you eat eggs. Ever.

This is why vegans get a bad name 😂 Always so pedantic. If you've rescued chickens, they will lay eggs now and then, and those eggs will be infertile. Do you throw them in the bin?

It’s not eggs using in wie making it’s Isniglass which comes from dead fishes swim bladders it used to clarify the wine.

You can get vegan wines and most spirits are vegan (happy days)

Glory veganism is about not exploiting animals. Hens are not meant to lay so many eggs. They've been bred to do that humans can take the eggs. So even if your hens are well looked after, their very existence was created around exploitation. Even buying rescue hens is contentious because you're paying money to battery farmersfor them so contributing to the industry.