Why don't vegans eat backyard eggs?

TODAY'S VIDEO:

We know that vegans don’t consume eggs, but what about eggs from backyard chickens? Why would that be a problem? After all these hens live a good life, right?

These are questions vegans encounter all of the time, and at first they seem reasonable. After all, most of the problems associated with egg production don’t exist with eggs from backyard hens, so what would the problem be? #BackyardChickens

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[ed.winters]

I get this question a lot so I hope this one is super helpful for you all! :)

[ShermanKyle]

I am REALLY liking this series of “Why don’t vegans consume [insert possible loophole/less bad animal product]?”

Keep them up, these are so well done and insightful; doesn’t leave much room for my friends/family who are on the fence when I send them these.

[nixequestrian]

A stray duck turned up one day & after a few months I decided to see if I could use clicker training to allow me to get close to her so I could check her over (she had a bad limp), in just two weeks she went from feral & avoiding humans altogether to waddling as fast as her little legs could carry her towards me whenever she saw me. She had a great personality, loved interacting & playing, so quickly became my duck dog, following me around everywhere- the neighbours always commented on how dog like she was- esp as I taught her to heel, lie down, fetch etc.
She was always 100% free to leave whenever she wanted to, had unlimited access to food & hung out with the wild ducks when I wasn't around, so hanging out with me & playing was entirely up to her. She taught me that we don't give the less 'cute & cuddly' animals nearly as much credit as we should.

[elDreddnaught]

I keep back yard hens on my allotment, they are all rescues. Most have stopped laying as they are all about 3 years old but I'll never kill them off. They are my pets and the occasional egg is a bonus. Also the fertiliser they provide make my fruit and veg grow brilliantly, they also help me out by eating pests from the plot.

[leventbahadrboran-rasyonel]

I will translate this video into Turkish. I'm starting now.

[wowowowzzz]

I bought some hens to produce eggs for me when I still vegetarian. The chickens turned me vegan. They have so much personality and individuality, and taking their eggs definitely upset them.

[MandaMoo]

I went vegan 8 weeks ago and this is actually a question I asked myself so this was of great use for me. I feel great about my decision to go vegan the more I discover things like this

[nicoleonfeels]

An animal’s right to live is not predicated on the use we can get out of them. 👏🏽

[CameronEatsDirt]

As a person who has backyard chickens, it find it disgusting that someone would kill their chicken for not laying eggs or eating their own eggs! I love my chickens with all my heart, and the fact that people might call them a recourse? It makes me upset.

[VeganWellnessTribe]

Thank you for coming into your role as an educator. You provide so much value.

[soumonism]

Great vid. I am vegan and would not eat any eggs but I think it is important to mention that many backyard chickens are not bred to lay 300 eggs, but with variation around 150. It is just important to give full disclosure.

[HannaYeen]

I have a few backyard (only occasionally indoor if my husband asks🤫) hens as pets. I honestly can't stand eggs. They gross me out. I just love the birds. I feel so bad for birds that get abused for eggs and meat. This is an amazing video. I don't see why we can't just love the birds for being feathered goofy companions.

[BenTheCuber]

1:40 My dad has a HUGE bag of calcium and I feed the calcium to my happy egg laying hens. No fractures yet, and I hope that it stays like that!

[angeliquea]

Well, my toddler nieces from Cali visited me in Las Vegas for Easter. Their dad thought it would be cute to buy them $1 chicks.

They thought it would be cool to just leave them with my mom and I..like 4 whole damn little lives and responsibilities. 🤣
We feed them our vegetable scraps and some grains. It’s good to know I was right to feed back their eggs, I gave it to them hard boiled. At first 4 eggs every single day was SO overwhelming.

Now they lay an egg just once in a while. They also never incubate it. I’ve seen them step on it carelessly breaking it and not even eat it haha.

So now the occasional eggs I get I feed to my big and small dog including the shell crushed for calcium. I’m relieved I no longer have a surplus of eggs and can just provide them an easy life in my backyard lol

[deerbirds]

My diet is 99% plant-based, and I have two lovely pet chickens. Both are breeds I specifically chose because they lay fewer eggs than "industrial" breeds, and I got them as pets, so I wanted to avoid as many egg-related health issues as I could. They have a large area to roam that is entirely safe from predators, they have fresh water and nutritious food, and the roosts where they sleep are padded with carpet for the utmost comfort for their little feeties. They get (very expensive, yikes) vet care from a great avian vet in my area who treats them as pets, not livestock. Unfortunately, the hormone implant (called suprelorin) that prevents hens from laying is not available in the US. Its use in poultry was outlawed by the FDA, so vets can no longer legally prescribe it here. If I had access to it, my girls would absolutely have the implants.

Neither of them has ever gone broody. They just go in the box, rearrange the straw a little bit, lay their egg, and then leave it. They have no interest or reaction if you show them an egg - they don't seem to have a concept that it's their own egg. I do feed many of their eggs back to them - they prefer them scrambled, but they'll eat them raw as well if I break them. They've never willingly broken an egg to eat it though - they don't seem to see it as a food source unless I present it to them as food. I've definitely heard of chickens that will break and eat their own eggs, but it's also not a super common behavior. Also, assuming they're being fed a nutritionally complete formulated diet, feeding them all of their eggs can actually cause health problems like fatty liver disease, which can lead to sudden death. So eggs are best viewed as a treat rather than a staple for them.

Therefore, I do eat some of their eggs, and I think that's perfectly ethical. And I tell them thank you very lovingly many times whenever I get an egg from the nest box, and I gently pet them, and they just ignore me and keep munching grass lol.

[gelsey]

As a backyard chicken owner I love this video! My chickens are my pets (I don’t even like eggs so I only remove the eggs if my chooks don’t want to eat/incubate them). They’re my babies, hens and Roos alike! I hate that not all birds are treated as well as mine, and one goal of mine is to have a rooster rescue :D

Not all of my hens like to eat eggs (raw, scrambled, boiled, fried, mixed with other treats...they’re just not fans). So, I make sure to give these particular hens extra calcium, protein, etc so they have enough nutrients.

I give every bird of mine a physical check-up two to five times per week, as well as trips to the vet as needed. I’ve successfully healed my birds from bumblefoot, sprains, cuts, and being egg bound.

My ladies and gentlemen are healthy, happy, and loved. They have an excellent flock dynamic and are safe from predators. I only wish the same for every other chicken on the planet 💚

[leowdrums]

I’m 13 when I was 8 my dad told me that “cage free” eggs I ate it because I dident know. Then I actually put in some research on why my mom maid me vegan. I now understand it all. Vegan for life!🌱🌱❤️👍🏻

[therealleddy]

This is always something I get asked and I never really know how to answer. Thank you for this

[SaschiaSlytherin]

Its a topic i was unsure about, so thanks for bringing up some arguments i havent thought of yet

[maomao]

An animal is not a resource or property, they are individuals that have an interest to live and avoid pain just like us.