#backyard eggs

[acti-veg]

What is your opinion on eating the eggs of a pet chicken that is not going to be bred or killed, and the eggs are not sold or used for profit in any way, just eaten or given to neighbours?

As a vegan, I believe that using animals for our benefit is fundamentally exploitative. Backyard eggs are still the result of exploitation. It may not be your exploitation as the owner; but before you even get them they’ve been bred into unhealthy bodies that produce far more eggs than is natural or healthy. There is then the issue of where they came from, as hatcheries are very cruel places by themselves.

For this reason, many owners and sanctuaries opt for implants to avoid laying, which is a pretty painless procedure and lasts 12 months. Hens implanted reportedly may live longer, which makes sense since they aren’t as likely to suffer from the health defects associated with excessive egg production. If that isn’t an option the eggs can also be fed back to hens, so they can regain some of the calories and protein used to lay it, therefore are benefiting from what they produce rather than us taking it for our own gain. Any excess could potentially be donated to a food bank or used to supplement the feed of other companion animals as well.

This is by no means the biggest animal rights issue, but ultimately, seeking to gain from your relationship with animals when it is more beneficial to the animal if you don’t, is fundamentally exploitative. I’ve got a tag devoted to this issue here you’re interested, but ultimately it just comes down to not taking things we don’t have a right to.

[msburgundy]

genuinely the stupidest thing i have read in a while

if you are considering trying out chickens you should know 1) if you don't want them anymore they are one of the easiest animals to process for meat 2) if you can't process them yourself they are by far the easiest animal to sell or give away 3) there is no such thing as a "farm animal rescue" that is not just a massive waste of time and money and chickens are not the type of animals that actually go to them (it's primarily goats)

get a few laying hens if you can, or better yet ducks, you will be glad you did

[vegance]

this advocating for backyard eggs by non vegans is especially bad, if you think about it for just one second. because besides the ethical problems that are still part of it, it’s just not at all attainable for a large number of people.

no person who doesn’t live in a house with a big enough garden would have access to eggs then. it would make eggs this thing that is only accessible for the lucky few who have the resources and time and energy for their own chickens, and maybe some of their friends. that’s incredibly unfair on a population level.

and if you don’t mean that everybody should have their own chickens, then stop using backyard eggs as an argument against veganism. it’s not valid if it’s not something that ultimately can be used on the scale of the whole population

[vegspoblr]

Why laying eggs kills chickens (yes, even when they are cared for and treated with love)

Or: what does the science say about egg-laying?

Analysis of Genetic Relationships Between Various Populations of Domestic and Jungle Fowl Using Microsatellite Markers

During 8,000 yr of domestication, the chicken has been considerably changed and much differentiated by natural and artificial selections.The presumed ancestor of the domestic fowl, the red jungle fowl, lays 10to 15 eggs per year in the wild, whereas commercial laying hens are capable of producing more than 300 eggs a year. Current breeding strategies for commercial poultry concentrate on specialized production lines derived by intense selection from a few breeds and very large populations with a great genetic uniformity of traits under selection.

CHICKENS (HENS) RAISED FOR EGGS by Food Empowerment Project (mostly focuses on large scale animal farming and other human rights/animal rights issues related to food)

Rather than the 10 to 15 eggs laid naturally in a year by red jungle fowl, the presumed ancestor of today’s domestic chicken, industrial farmed hens have been manipulated to lay more than 300 eggs per year. The calcium devoted to this volume of egg laying leaves their bones extremely brittle and prone to breaking.

Ovarian Tumors by PoultryVDM:

Ovarian tumors occurs frequently in domestic laying hens, especially those bred for excessive egg production, such as ex-battery hens from factory farms. More than 80% of commercial laying hens develop ovarian tumors by the time they are 2 years of age. [...] Ovarian tumors usually don't become apparent until their growth is well advanced. The bird may have a history of egg binding or oviductual prolapse. They may also have problems associated with egg laying, such as increased infections, soft-shelled, shell-less and other abnormal eggs, andgeneralized signs of lethargy/depression.

More on Egg Yolk Peritonitis. In general http://www.poultrydvm.com/ is a good resource.

Lots of info on Chicken Health Resources by Chicken Run Rescue, another site worth checking. Also from them and regarding implants: No Such Thing as a Harmless Egg: Battling Reproductive Disease in Domestic Hens.

From this paper by an avian vet:

Reproductive disease: The most common system affected by disease seen in hens. This is believed to be due to their prolonged reproductive period with commercial hybrids laying over 300 eggs a year. It is the cause of up to 90% of mortality in barn egg-laying flocks. However it is less common in less productive breeds.

[...]

Many hens are laying over 300 eggs a year compared with the wild red jungle fowl which would rarely lay more than 20 eggs per year.

[...]

Calcium Homeostasis: 2-3 times more dietary calcium is required by a laying hen compared to the requirements of a growing chick, so diet is critical. They need to be eating predominately layers pellets. These birds are on a nutritional knife edge as regards their calcium/phosphorus balance. The original jungle fowl would have laid at most 2 clutches a year, rarely more than 20 eggs a year compared with a bird laying approx 300 eggs a year. Home-made diets will result in calcium deficiency, however breeds that are not very productive may scrape by on homemade diets.

[...]

Laying birds are susceptible to problems associated with deficient diets, as when in lay they are constantly utilising medullary bone as a temporary store of calcium.

Regarding chronic laying: It's recognized as a serious health problem in virtually all birds. Laying 300 eggs when you are phisiologically prepared to lay 20 a year definitely accounts for overlaying:

Chronic Egg Laying (The Parrot University at Harman Aviary)

Chronic Egg Laying (Beauty of Birds)

Chronic Egg-laying: What you can do (Harrison's Bird Foods)

Excessive or Chronic Egg-laying in Birds (PetCoach)

Also addressed in Backyard Chickens: The Key Issues by faunalytics.

In conclusion: chicken birth control saves their lives, chicken laying enough for us to eat eggs regularly kills them.

[wvrmhole]

“Eggs from the gals” Photo by @vvvrmhole

[severelynerdysheep]

Out of curiosity, what's your opinion on, say, raising chickens yourself that you know are well cared for and eating the eggs that they are laying anyway?

I've written a lot about “backyard eggs” and I will link to a much more in-depth post here which talks about both “free-range” and “backyard eggs” But in short, raising chickens to consume their eggs is animal exploitation and is deeply unethical. It's completely unjustifiable and harmful to hens. 

[inkedandknitting]

Welp egg season is officially upon us. For those of you that don’t have chickens 🐔 They have an off time of year (Autumn and Winter) where they’ll slow down significantly or stop all together laying (from the lack of daylight hours) And other times of the year (Spring and Summer) where some breeds can lay an egg daily. Now there are ways of getting your chickens to lay during the off time of year but I’d rather let my girls have a break. So in my family eggs are viewed as a seasonal item.

[necessaryveganism]

These are your animal loving people you get your feelgood backyard eggs from.