Is it right or wrong for Vegetarians, or Vegans, to eat eggs? Well it depends on who you ask. Most vegans refuse to eat eggs, some Vegetarians will eat eggs. Many offer reasons and excuses ranging from the idea of killing a baby chick before it has hatched, to contributing to cruelty and the suffering of hens in battery cages. As such, I am not going to look at this from a health stand point, but rather from the cruelty standpoint. I am going to suggest eating eggs as a way to STOP cruelty. I am not suggesting just any eggs... I suggest eating only proper free range eggs from hens whom are not kept with roosters.
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The Poor Unborn Baby Chicks
Not every egg is destined to be a chick. If there are no roosters present, the egg will not be fertilized, and therefore will not contain the makings of a baby chicken. Some breeds of chickens lay more eggs than others. Many of these "laying" breeds will not sit on their eggs, as such even if they had a rooster in the pen with them, they would never keep the egg warm enough for it to live and develop into a chick. As such the argument of not eating baby chicks is moot.
The Truth about Soy
There is a very good chance that more animals suffer in the growing and production of Soy, than in the free range egg production industry. Animals are displaced in order to have fields of soy, and are kept out. Pesticides are used to kill insects, which intern kills the mice and birds who prey on those insects. Other animals are poisoned to keep them out of the crops, rabbits, for example are not welcome. Deer are not exactly welcome either. In fact soy producers really don't want any animals on the land while the soy beans are growing. This loss of habitat is indisputably cruel and should not be disregarded simply because an animal is wild
Save a Hen, Eat an Egg
Free Range means different things to different people, to me I think of hens that are not in tiny cages, who have shelter but are allowed outdoors to run freely, even within an enclosed safe pen. In some areas pens are truly necessary or the hens would be easy prey to foxes, coyotes, snakes, and birds of prey. In many places people can actually have their own pet chickens for egg production, this is the ideal. I would suggest keeping three to six birds for a family. Chicken breeds should be selected according to productivity and friendliness. If you keep your own hens then you are saving other hens from battery situations. Ideally you may want to have more eggs than you can eat, and can share them with other people, thus reducing the number of eggs they buy from battery situations.
Battery Situations?
I probably should explain what a battery is. It may be called different things in different countries, but typically a battery is rows and rows of tiny wire cages where hens are warehoused. The birds who enter this system are sexed at day one, females get vaccinated and "debeaked", in other words, their beaks are cut off to prevent them from pecking each other due to the upcoming stressful, and boring, caging situation they are about to enter. The cages are often only slightly larger than the two or three hens put into them, alongside others. The eggs are automatically rolled away from the hens, not even allowing a proud mother to sit on the egg and cluck proudly about it. These are really terrible situations and undoubtedly a good reason not to eat eggs, or chickens for that matter.
Do the Math
The math adds up to the fact that eating some eggs actually reduces suffering of other animals, both wild, and domestic. Fresh free range eggs are also healthier than store bought battery hen eggs, so you can improve on the health angle too if you want to go that route.
