I'm vegan, but would buying hens and eating their eggs be going against my morals?!
Is there anything cruel about this idea that i haven't spotted? Is it a bad idea??
Could i still consider myself a vegan?
Answers:
>Is there anything ... about this idea that i haven't spotted?
Will you keep the chickens for their entire natural lifespan (even though many years of it will be 'unproductive' (no eggs)) and provide shelter/food/healthcare?
Your morals are your morals. Mine are mine. Nobody can tell you if something is against your morals or not. You have to decide.
No, you can't keep chickens and be vegan. Being vegan is using no animal products. Chickens are animals. Eggs are their product. Keeping an animal caged or it's wings trimmed so it can't fly out of your yard is considered cruel by vegans.
There's animal rights and there's animal welfare. Vegans support animal rights. That means you can't impose yourself on animals in any way. Can't neuter dogs, can't shut them up in the house or the back yard, can't keep hamsters in cages, etc. Keeping chickens falls in the same category. You're going to have to protect them from predators somehow, cage, fence, etc.
Animal welfare means it's ok to use animals as long as it's done in a humane manner. Keeping chickens and using their eggs falls under the animal welfare umbrella. But it's not vegan.
As others have said, you would not be able to consider yourself vegan. However what you have described is not cruel and it's a great way to make your house more eco friendly by having the chooks convert kitchen scraps to manure which can be used to fertilise your garden. However where do you plan to get the hens from? Most chicks sold at markets etc come from hatcheries, which cruelly kill baby male chicks as they are worthless alive. See this clip for details of what goees on in hatcheries (warning, graphic footage): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ--faib7…
What you could do is find some activists in your area who do rescues. The number of hens rescued depends on the homes they have for them. So if you can take on 3 or 4 chooks, the next time they do a rescue that is 3 or 4 chooks saved from a life of slavery in battery cages. I do not think it is ethical to buy hens but taking on rescues is a different story.
vegan biologist
How can WE tell you? They are YOUR morals. I see nothing morally wrong with this, except you would be buying hens from a breeder which is not good for vegans. Try looking to rescue ex battery hens instead, they usually have a couple good seasons laying left in them and you are saving them from the plate!
You would not be a vegan if you ate eggs, in my opinion, but morally there is nothing wrong with what you want to do, after all chicken eggs are generally unfertilised so you are not preventing a life from hatching.
I myself have ex battery hens but I do not eat the eggs I give them to my friends and keep a couple for my pets.
I don't think their is anything cruel with that. As long as you don't keep a cock then the eggs are infertile so you are not eating a baby chick. the hens will stop producing eggs after 5 or so years and will live to around eight. Clearly you don't seem like your going to want to eat the non layers so be prepared to keep hens for a couple years after they stop laying. If you want hens with long production lives then go for a heritage breed such as a Orpington. Unlike a modern breed these wont lay an egg a day but will instead keep laying for most of their whole lives. The sex links or leg horns are bred to lay each day and then stop after two years.
Another thing is, if your going to let them free range be prepared to loss some to predators. Mine free range most of the day and I've lost quite a few to hungry hawks. I would rather mine free range and have some losses than confine them. If yo are uncomfortable with them getting eaten then only free ange them when your outside.
You and only you know your morals, so this question is kind of weird to put onto others. Fundamentally the term vegan does mean to not exploit animals.. ever. And I am wondering.. what made you want to buy the hens in the first place? Was it solely so you could use their eggs guilt-free and free-of-charge? And simply by purchasing the hens wouldn't you still be supporting the way we humans exploit animals by keeping, buying, and selling them like slaves for our pleasure and amusement? However, I do not doubt that you will give them a wonderful home and take good care of them.. And maybe they will live a better life with you than on some regular farm, or worse. Ultimately I think this decision and the terms you call yourself are up to you and what you are comfortable with. I do not know where you plan to buy them, but consider where your money will be going when/if you do.
Vegan
i you eat eggs, then you are a ovo-vegetarian. but if you own the chickens, and you treat them properly, and you let them live out their lifespan, it is not cruel and eggs were never alive, they need sperm before they become life beyond the microscopic
No one can answer that but you! You have to do what feels right. I have a friend who has been vegan for a year, but ate eggs from my chickens. If the chickens are raised healthy, and are loved (and you really want to eat eggs) go this route.
it depends the reason why you are a vegan. is it because animal cruelty or health? because if its for animal cruelty than no. because you will raise and take care of the hens not just chop them up and treat them horribley.
You're not vegan if you eat any animal products- including eggs. Consider going vegetarian if you want the eggs.
Vegan: does not eat or use any animal products. Eggs: animal products. Eating eggs: not vegan.
No one can tell you what goes against your morals because they are Your morals. Every-ones morals are unique.
No you are not a vegan if u ate eggs.
Eggs is the beginning of life, just like seeds to a plant. Opps
I think that if you keep them and treat them very well, and make sure that they're very well looked after and are able to do everything they could in the wild, it would be okay. They don't just lay eggs every day, and don't lay them for their whole lives, so take that into consideration before going out and buying chickens. Here's an answer I found from a different website:
"Did you know they have a laying season? This is dependent on the length of the daylight hours. In the north when days are shorter in the late fall, winter and early spring, the hens take a rest and build up their reserves. You can get them to start laying earlier, by purchasing an electrical timer and attach it to the lights in the hen house. Set the timer to give fourteen hours of light a day. But do give the hens a deserved rest in there sometime!
The hens will lay seasonally (fullest production starts in the spring) for about 18 months before their first molt when they shed their tattered and worn feathers for a new coat of feathers. It is important to feed them a laying pellet formula that is high in protein at this time since the feathers are made of protein. While molting they do not usually lay. You may get the odd egg here and there but not regularly. Then when the molting session is over, they lay again for another season.
They will continue to lay for 3 to six years depending on feed and breed of hen. It is good to get new chicks to replace the older chickens before their production tapers off.
Do not put the baby chicks in directly with the older hens. Without their own mama to protect them the older hens will try to establish the "pecking order" and will kill them. Wait until the new chicks are fully feathered with the mature feathers, not the fluffy down, before you try gradual introduction."
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_do_chicke…