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Vegan

Join Mumsnet's vegan community and discuss everything related to the vegan diet.

Veggie, heading for vegan...but

87 replies

Sonolanona · 05/05/2024 00:19

I'm veggie, and haven't drunk milk for over 30 years. I've made the switch to vegan 'cheese' ..not perfect, but ok, and I can manage it for most cooking needs.
But... I've had a boiled egg and toast for breakfast every day since I was 3 and I'm 56 now! Always free range (my family have chickens on a smallholding) but I am really struggling to make that last switch because , well, breakfast has always been an egg, and use eggs in cooking.

How do I ditch the egg?!

OP posts:
Vegandiva · 05/05/2024 20:19

OP i like to just slice tofu and sprinkle it with this stuff called kala namak or black salt (except it’s often pink, which is confusing). you can also pan fry the tofu if you want first but i’m too lazy 😁 most of the time.

With regards to the happy hens myth, modern egg laying chickens have been bred to lay ~ 300 eggs a year (!!!) versus in nature 20 a 30 a year, also an egg is a hen’s ovulation obviously and not her period as a couple people referenced.

They suffer terribly because of this, as a comparison think of if you had a period every few days instead of every month. Also they lose so many nutrients with each egg that they need for themselves. Some rescued hens are put on birth control to stop them from laying more eggs.

Eggs are also terrible for human health, which is only logical - why would they be good for our health it’s an insane idea to eat a hen’s ovulation.

Oh also so called ‘free range’ eggs just means that all the hens are thrown into a horrible shed together with maybe a window that none of them ever get to see out of. they also will ‘debeak’ them to stop them pecking at each othe.

None of those humanewashing terms have any regulations attached to them, so they mean nothing. It doesn’t matter what label is on the box, egg laying hens are some of the most abused and mistreated animals on earth and live horrible lives.

Oh and to the person who said the hens will lay the eggs anyway, completely untrue, people vote with their wallets and if nobody bought eggs the cruelty would stop. Ditto any other animal products.

Thank you OP for caring and wanting to help the hens 🙂

Cracked - Booklet from Viva covering health, environmental and humane considerations with eggs:
https://cdn.viva.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Egg-guide-A5-final.pdf?_gl=110pmxir_gaNjIyOTQ2ODYyLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA._ga_RV4VS8VNMDMTcxNDkzNjI4MC4xLjEuMTcxNDkzNjMyNi4xNC4wLjA._gcl_au*MjA3NzQyNjkzLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA.

Downloaded from here:
https://viva.org.uk/health/why-animal-products-harm/eggs/

https://cdn.viva.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Egg-guide-A5-final.pdf?_gl=1*10pmxir*_ga*NjIyOTQ2ODYyLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA.*_ga_RV4VS8VNMD*MTcxNDkzNjI4MC4xLjEuMTcxNDkzNjMyNi4xNC4wLjA.*_gcl_au*MjA3NzQyNjkzLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA.

goldenretrievermum5 · 05/05/2024 20:25

Vegandiva · 05/05/2024 20:19

OP i like to just slice tofu and sprinkle it with this stuff called kala namak or black salt (except it’s often pink, which is confusing). you can also pan fry the tofu if you want first but i’m too lazy 😁 most of the time.

With regards to the happy hens myth, modern egg laying chickens have been bred to lay ~ 300 eggs a year (!!!) versus in nature 20 a 30 a year, also an egg is a hen’s ovulation obviously and not her period as a couple people referenced.

They suffer terribly because of this, as a comparison think of if you had a period every few days instead of every month. Also they lose so many nutrients with each egg that they need for themselves. Some rescued hens are put on birth control to stop them from laying more eggs.

Eggs are also terrible for human health, which is only logical - why would they be good for our health it’s an insane idea to eat a hen’s ovulation.

Oh also so called ‘free range’ eggs just means that all the hens are thrown into a horrible shed together with maybe a window that none of them ever get to see out of. they also will ‘debeak’ them to stop them pecking at each othe.

None of those humanewashing terms have any regulations attached to them, so they mean nothing. It doesn’t matter what label is on the box, egg laying hens are some of the most abused and mistreated animals on earth and live horrible lives.

Oh and to the person who said the hens will lay the eggs anyway, completely untrue, people vote with their wallets and if nobody bought eggs the cruelty would stop. Ditto any other animal products.

Thank you OP for caring and wanting to help the hens 🙂

Cracked - Booklet from Viva covering health, environmental and humane considerations with eggs:
https://cdn.viva.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Egg-guide-A5-final.pdf?_gl=110pmxir_gaNjIyOTQ2ODYyLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA._ga_RV4VS8VNMDMTcxNDkzNjI4MC4xLjEuMTcxNDkzNjMyNi4xNC4wLjA._gcl_au*MjA3NzQyNjkzLjE3MTQ5MzYyODA.

Downloaded from here:
https://viva.org.uk/health/why-animal-products-harm/eggs/

DM has chickens.. they’re not going to stop laying eggs if people stopped eating them - that’s insane.

Vegandiva · 05/05/2024 20:26

EmmaGrundyForPM · 05/05/2024 04:02

I can't see a link?

Hi @EmmaGrundyForPM, thanks for your interest 🩷

@QueenBitch666 posted the link in the post above where she said that

It was to a documentary called Earthlings

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8gqwpfEcBjI&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mumsnet.com%2F&sourcevepath=MTc4NDI0

I believe that’s American but the principles are global, but here is a short video just about UK factory farming
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IVGR1N2Pl00&pp=QACIAgE%3D&rco=1

kikisparks · 05/05/2024 21:24

goldenretrievermum5 · 05/05/2024 20:25

DM has chickens.. they’re not going to stop laying eggs if people stopped eating them - that’s insane.

Point is we need to stop breeding them.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 06/05/2024 13:33

Thanks @Vegandiva. I will give them a watch.

Traceyallshot · 06/05/2024 21:42

CountingCrones · 05/05/2024 19:11

Sorry for the delay in replying. A busy weekend!

Layers are very expensive to feed, it takes a hell of a lot of food to produce eggs. As they age they lay a little less frequently. Unless people are prepared to pay more for eggs, poultry farmers cannot afford to keep laying hens past about 15 months of age.

They could live between 3-5 years easily, and some older breeds can be 8-12 years old (old mixed use breeds are heavier and more robust so live longer)

Over the past 20 years, increasing numbers of people have adopted retired layers. The hens can live happy healthy lives and lay plenty of eggs for a family who are happy to regard keeping chickens as “pets with a side benefit.” However, counting the cost of feed and housing, it’s not a cheap way of having eggs.

(Those of us who keep hens don’t care, we love our resident dinosaurs!)

Adopted birds are only a proportion of layers reared and culled each year in the U.K. Most are not adopted.

Eggs are easy nutritious and healthy forms of protein but there is cruelty as part of egg production. Male chicks are all killed as day-olds. Hens much older than a year are killed too.

The alternative to this is for everyone to pay more per egg. Then it would be economical to rear far fewer layers and keep them for longer. The males would still be killed, though.

As with all issues of consuming animal products, people have to find a solution that fits their ethics. I’m ok with culling day olds and keeping the spoilt divas in my garden for fresh eggs, but I recognise not everyone has the space or resources to do that.

Sorry for the long answer

Thanks for that. That’s interesting. It’s never black and white with these things and just because it’s labelled as ‘free range’ doesn’t actually mean it’s cruelty free. We ‘adopt’ lambs every year and have A LOT of pet sheep now and we usually take the boys, as it’s a similar situation there, with them being useless or too expensive to keep. I just find the whole thing terribly sad. The way animals are churned out like they’re just disposable and killed as soon as they’re no longer required 😢 it is a whole world of cruelty and sadness

bakewellbride · 07/05/2024 21:54

This is a delicious pancake recipe. Mix all ingredients, leave to rest for 15 mins and fry. My fussy kids can't tell the difference between these and the ones I used to make with egg and cows milk.

Veggie, heading for vegan...but
bakewellbride · 07/05/2024 21:57

Also 'Amanda ducks tofu scramble' - search on YouTube, it's so good!

I've only been vegan for 7 months (after many years of being a veggie) and love it now. Will stay this way for life.

Also I have regular blood tests and oddly enough my iron has increased since I gave up eggs (and I had good iron levels in the first place). It's amazing and I feel so healthy, fit and strong. Good luck op.

HangingOver · 07/05/2024 22:09

In time you'll create your own version of tofu scramble that will be glorious. I've honed my recipe over the last five years and my giddy gosh it's DELICIOUS.

Mossstitch · 07/05/2024 23:25

Traceyallshot · 05/05/2024 01:07

I think the big difference here is those chickens presumably aren’t going to be killed for meat eventually, which the free range shop bought ones presumably are. So you aren’t supporting any kind of farming by eating those

Egg laying hens are not used for meat, different breed. (Just for info, I know it's not the point of the thread). To be honest if you know the eggs come from well cared for hens why worry, there nothing sounds happier than a pet hen whose laid an egg and usually not fertilised unless a Cockerel is kept too so its not ever going to become 'a life' 🐣

wantsomeanswers · 08/05/2024 07:27

If you google vegan scrambled /fried / boiled egg etc you'll find recipes to try , you can make vegan yoke etc to dip your soldiers into to tackle the breakfast food cravings , there's a documentary called what the health that I watched that got me into the mind set , I transitioned in 2019 from vegetarian to vegan and cheese was the thing that I thought I'd find the hardest to give up so I looked for alternatives and I now use companies like Honestly Tasty who do plant based cheese boards which I order for occasions like Christmas Eve / birthdays and I buy supermarket vegan cheese like cathedral city / Epic mature for recipes at home .

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