To be pissed off over eggs?

[cricketmum84]

Ok I know this is totally a first world problem but I'm feeling rather pissed off today so this could be the last straw lol!

My DH went to the supermarket this morning and I had put "free range eggs" on the list. I'm a vegetarian, almost vegan but not quite given up cheese yet. I'm quite hot on animal welfare.

He came back from the shops with eggs from caged hens. Doesn't see anything wrong with this at all and says because I don't eat eggs I don't get a say. I say that I don't want eggs from caged hens in my house and I don't want my family contributing to the survival of that industry.

Am I just being a moody cow today or do I have a point??

YANBU. Not even sure how or why caged eggs still exist tbh, it’s absolutely vile.

We used to keep hens, the eggs are gorgeous, rich golden and flavoursome with thick whites. Now I have to buy them at the farmers market. Battery eggs aint great taste wise.

Some hens lay very big eggs, depends on the breed of hen. One of ours used to lay double yokers regularly.

I wonder where farmer Macdonald in the link given of happy children playing in a field of chickens gets their chicken from.
Do they breed their own? In which case they will be mincing the day old males.
Or do they buy in the female chicks and let someone else do the mincing?

There are no battery hens in the uk, it's been illegal for years.

As far as the cries of "hypocrite" go.

I never said I was perfect, I never said that I can't fail. I have a keen interest in animal welfare which was one of the main reasons I have started to cut all animal products out of my diet. I can't force my family to do the same and I will still cook meat and eggs for them and pour my kids a glass of milk (although I am trying to get them to try but milks which apparently are just as bad.

I'm doing my best to make even the tiniest difference. If that makes me come across as sanctimonious then I'm sorry.

I'm just trying to do my best. For me, my health, our futures and for animals.

@Luciddreams I'm confused... are you saying average chickens lay 20 eggs a year?

I also try to avoid large eggs, as I gather they are harder for hens to lay.
In my experience eggs get bigger as the chickens get older. They lay less often but the ones they lay are bigger. Maybe by all buying bigger eggs, farmers would be less likely to kill chickens at 18 months when they are laying fewer, bigger eggs

Large eggs are harder for hens to lay? I've heard it all now!

Battery cages were banned in the EU in 2012.

we've got a farm shop nearby that I'm going to try, last time I went the hens were all out in the front field and looked very well looked after.
At least if I go there and buy their eggs he won't have to buy the cheapo supermarket ones!!

The ones you saw were some of the lucky ones who managed to find one of the few tiny gaps to exit the overcrowded barn. The weaker,unhealthier hens are the ones inside that you don't see

The eggs he bought very definitely say "from caged hens" that may not be battery cages but it's still caged hens.

If you're willing to cook meat for your family I'm not sure why having eggs from caged hens is such an issue?

I'm not trying to call you a hypocrite, just trying to understand why that's where you've drawn the line? I confess if I were your husband I'd struggle to understand.

@Aprillygirl not necessarily. Not all farmers overcrowd their hens just because they are allowed to. A lot of them don’t even use barns, especially if they aren’t a dedicated egg farm. We have some farms local to us who use little hen house type things over one big barn.

I suppose asking them to not eat meat at all is quite forceful, they wouldn't agree to it and I have no right to ask them to do that. Well I could ask them but they wouldn't do it.

With the eggs I'm not asking them not to eat them. I'm just asking him to spend £1 or so more to ensure that they are coming from a higher welfare source. It's not a big ask unlike asking them not to eat meat?

My parents have a lots of happy hens who roam around the garden and field. They are fed corn and have a pretty pampered life. When they have spare eggs they sell them at the gate. £1 for 12. Hardly anyone buys them, it’s so strange.

They are really yellow and if you make a cake with them the sponge is really bright yellow. Compared to a supermarket egg which is pale and insipid. I have never heard of a large egg being painful to lay. It depends on the breed. Some young hens lay teeny eggs till they get bigger and their eggs get larger.

@luciddreams average chickens will lay 1-2 eggs a day in healthy conditions. Where did you get the 20 eggs a gear idea from? That’s only 1-2 eggs a month

Difficult one. On the one hand you can't dictate to someone else what they buy and eat. It's not just your house and fridge, it's his too.
On the other, he clearly doesn't share your principles. You can't dictate to him that he does, so it's a case of how important to you is it that he modifies his behaviour to fit your principles in certain situations. Not really a huge ask - a non-smoker would quite rightly ask a smoker not to indulge in the house.
I get quite cross with the idea that unless you are a perfect 100% card-carrying vegan you have no morality about animals. For many people it is a journey, both in terms of learning about the food industry and of changing your diet gradually. And we are all fed a lot of nonsense by the industry - sometimes free-range eggs are a little better than battery eggs, organic eggs are a little better still, but the more you look into it the more you find that there are still problems. And then there's the 'happy egg company' - yeah right.

Why don't you get your eggs from a local farm if you're that bothered?

But you are asking him not to eat the eggs he bought today...

I think you need to accept that just as it's your family's own choice whether or not to eat meat, it's also their choice whether or not to buy free range eggs.

Do you insist they buy only RSPCA assured meat?

@DobbyTheHouseElk I think there's a house on my way home from work that has chickens, they sometimes have a sign outside for eggs 6 for £1 so will try call in next time they have the sign out :)

@PCohle I haven't said that I don't want him to eat them. I would have rather he hadn't bought them but there's no point in wasting food. He can't take them back to the shop now because he has used some.

And yes I do ask him to buy free range chicken and higher welfare meat products but it falls on deaf ears.

Tbh when I went vegan I had to not eat any Vegan cheese for like a month to forget the taste of normal cheese which seemed to work! Maybe try that it you’re interested in being fully vegan

Yes do that. They will have the best welfare standards. A few hens living happy lives in someone’s garden. Amazing eggs.

The laying is to do with daylight hours, which is why farmed eggs have lights on in the barns 24 hrs a day. In the winter my parents hardly have any eggs. The hens slow down laying to one every 3-4 days. When it’s sunny and the days are long they lay one a day. So if you have 12 hens you can quickly get too many eggs!

If you want to choose, you go to the shop and get.
If my OH isn't happy with my choice, he makes a point of getting it himself and when it is something I don't eat, I am happy for him to do so.

The thing with battery eggs is they are in biscuits and cakes from the supermarket. So they will be in the food chain somewhere else.

Locally we have a chicken factory/egg farm. When the hens are 6 months old they either sell them as layers for back gardens. Or they go off to be made into pet food. Really grim.