Hello once again,

I have a question about eating eggs. I'm a ovo-lacto vegetarian, but i do not eat meat at all. Is it oh ok to do? Or I am wrong for eating eggs in the first place? I would like to know everyone opinion on being a ovo-lacto vegetarian and also is it oh ok to eat eggs.

Personally, I choose not to eat eggs because of the conditions in which factory farms keep their chickens. It's OK to be ovo-lacto, though. You're still doing less harm than you would do if you ate meat.

it's up to you really.

i think it is ok to eat eggs. eggs are full of healthy nutrients--there's actually nothing unhealthy about eggs and even the american heart association agrees (and recommends at least one egg a day for people with cardiac problems). So, eggs are healthy.

the main reason why people don't eat eggs is because of the way that animals are treated to get those eggs. Many chickens are kept in 'battery cages' which are very cramped. they don't get any movement, and then there's a feeding schedule that involves starvation to increase production during certain times of the year. and ultimately, these chickens are slaughtered for meat.

but, not all chickens are kept this way. there are farms and groups who have truely 'free range' eggs which means that they get outside and everything. You may have to look for them, though. In most cases, the chickens are or may be still killed for meat. There are people who have chickens as pets and sell the eggs or give the eggs away--and in these cases, unless you have a moral qualm with people owning animals--then the two major reasons for avoiding eggs (animal conditions in factory farms, animal slaughter) are completely avoided.

ultimately, it's up to you. I'm ovo-lacto, and i'm happy with it, morally, ethically, and spiritually.

I don't eat eggs like right out of the carton b/c I've heard too much about them and am basically too grossed out to want to eat them. However. . . I do still eat some products that contain trace amount of eggs in the ingredients list so I cannot say that I am a vegan. It's something I hope to accomplish, though. I don't think it's "wrong" to eat eggs, but like girl2beaver said I try not to eat them because of the conditions that egg-laying hens are living in on factory farms. Same goes for milk, too. I drink Silk soy milk, but I still eat some things that has trace amounts of dairy in the ingredients. While the cows are not getting killed to give us milk, they still live in bad, unnatural conditions and are usually sick.

I would do some of your own research on the subject and then decide for yourself if you want to continue to eat them.

http://www.factoryfarming.com/eggs.htm

Laying Hens

There are approximately 300 million egg laying hens in the U.S. confined in battery cages — small wire cages stacked in tiers and lined up in rows inside huge warehouses. In accordance with the USDA's recommendation to give each hen four inches of 'feeder space,' hens are commonly packed four to a cage measuring just 16 inches wide. In this tiny space, the birds cannot stretch their wings or legs, and they cannot fulfill normal behavioral patterns or social needs. Constantly rubbing against the wire cages, they suffer from severe feather loss, and their bodies are covered with bruises and abrasions.

In order to reduce injuries resulting from excessive pecking — an aberrant behavior that occurs when the confined hens are bored and frustrated — practically all laying hens have part of their beaks cut off. Debeaking is a painful procedure that involves cutting through bone, cartilage, and soft tissue.

Laying more than 250 eggs per year each, laying hens' bodies are severely taxed. They suffer from "fatty liver syndrome" when their liver cells, which work overtime to produce the fat and protein for egg yolks, accumulate extra fat. They also suffer from what the industry calls 'cage layer fatigue,' and many become 'egg bound' and die when their bodies are too weak to pass another egg.

Osteoporosis is another common ailment afflicting egg laying hens, whose bodies lose more calcium to form egg shells than they can assimilate from their diets. One industry journal, Feedstuffs, explains, "...the laying hen at peak eggshell cannot absorb enough calcium from her diet..." while another (Lancaster Farming) states, "... a hen will use a quantity of calcium for yearly egg production that is greater than her entire skeleton by 30-fold or more." Inadequate calcium contributes to broken bones, paralysis, and death.

After one year in egg production, the birds are classified as 'spent hens' and are sent off to slaughter. Their brittle, calcium-depleted bones often shatter during handling or at the slaughterhouse. They usually end up in soups, pot pies, or similar low-grade chicken meat products in which their bodies can be shredded to hide the bruises from consumers.

With a growing supply of broiler chickens keeping slaughterhouses busy, egg producers have had to find new ways to dispose of spent hens. One entrepreneur has developed the 'Jet-Pro' system to turn spent hens into animal feed. As described in Feedstuffs, "Company trucks would enter layer operations, pick up the birds, and grind them up, on site, in a portable grinder... it (the ground up hens) would go to Jet-Pro's new extruder-texturizer, the 'Pellet Pro.'"

In one notorious case of extraordinary cruelty at Ward Egg Ranch in February 2003 in San Diego County, California, more than 15,000 spent laying hens were tossed alive into a wood-chipping machine to dispose of them. Despite tremendous outcry from a horrified public, the district attorney declined to prosecute the owners of the egg farm, calling the use of a wood-chipper to kill hens a "common industry practice."

In some cases, especially if the cost of replacement hens is high, laying hens may be 'force molted' to extend their laying capacity. This process involves starving the hens for up to 18 days, keeping them in the dark, and denying them water to shock their bodies into another egg-laying cycle. Commonly, between 5 and 10% of birds die during the molt, and those who live may lose more than 25% of their body weight.

For every egg-laying hen confined in a battery cage, there is a male chick who was killed at the hatchery. Because egg-laying chicken breeds have been genetically selected exclusively for maximum egg production, they don't grow fast or large enough to be raised profitably for meat. Therefore, male chicks of egg-laying breeds are of no economic value, and they are literally discarded on the day they hatch — usually by the cheapest, most convenient means available. Thrown into trash cans by the thousands, male chicks suffocate or are crushed under the weight of others.

Another common method of disposing of unwanted male chicks is grinding them up alive. This can result in unspeakable horrors, as described by one research scientist who observed that "even after twenty seconds, there were only partly damaged animals with whole skulls". In other words, fully conscious chicks were partially ground up and left to slowly and agonizingly die. Eyewitness accounts at commercial hatcheries indicate similar horrors of chicks being slowly dismembered by machinery blades en route to trash bins or manure spreaders.

And don't imagine "free range" or organic is all that much better, because frequently it's not, and many of the issues are exactly the same.

Technically a lacto-ovo vegetarian eats eat and dairy. There is nothing wrong with consuming eggs (do whatever makes you happy), but as others have mentioned, usually the reason people avoid them is because of battery farming. Perhaps if you are worried, you could try free range eggs? They are slightly more expensive though.

Or, you could keep a couple of chickens in your yard and get your eggs this way. Chickens are not any harder to care for than dogs or cats, and provide just as much entertainment. Or so I hear. I haven't got any chickens yet, but when I'm able to own pets, that's the pet I will acquire.

http://www.cok.net/lit/freerange.php

How Free Is “Free-Range”?

“Just because it says free-range does not mean that it is welfare-friendly.”
—Dr. Charles Olentine, editor of Egg Industry magazine, an industry trade journal(1)

As concern grows over the way the meat, egg, and dairy industries treat the animals we eat, so does the number of animal products labeled "free-range." What does this mean? Do "free-range" chickens, pigs, turkeys, and cows receive humane treatment? Are they slaughtered in less violent ways?

"Free-Range" Eggs

There is no inspection system for companies that label their eggs "free-range."

The popular myth that "free-range" egg-laying hens enjoy fresh grass, bask in the sunlight, scratch the earth, sit on their nests, and engage in other natural habits is often just that: a myth. In many commercial "free-range" egg farms, hens are crowded inside windowless sheds with little more than a single, narrow exit leading to an enclosure, too small to accommodate all of the birds at once.

Both battery cage and "free-range" egg hatcheries kill all male chicks shortly after birth. Since male chicks cannot lay eggs and are different breeds than those chickens raised for meat, they are of no use to the egg industry. Standard killing methods, even among "free-range" producers, include grinding male chicks alive or throwing them into trash bags and leaving them to suffocate.

Whether kept in sheds or cages, laying hens-who can naturally live more than ten years-are considered "spent" when they are just one or two years old and their productivity wanes. Rather than being retired, "free range" hens are slaughtered to make room for another shed of birds.

"Free-Range" Broiler Chickens

Birds raised for meat ("broilers") may be considered "free-range" if they have U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified access to the outdoors. No other criteria-environmental quality, the size of the outdoor area, the number of birds confined in a single shed, or the indoor or outdoor space allotted per animal-are considered in applying the label. As with "free-range" laying hens, many "free-range" broilers live in a facility with only one small opening at the end of a large shed, permitting only a few birds to go outside at any given time.

Even Richard Lobb, spokesperson for the National Chicken Council admits, "Even in a free-range type of style of production, you're basically going to find most of them inside the grow out facility…."(2)

According to The Washington Post Magazine, in the case of birds, the term "free-range" "doesn't really tell you anything about the [animal's]…quality of life, nor does it even assure that the animal actually goes outdoors."(3)

Aside from the birds' actual living conditions, there is no prohibition in "free-range" poultry farming against using breeds of chickens and turkeys who have been selectively bred for fast growth and high feed conversion.

In the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it now takes only 45 days.(4) Such fast growth causes chickens to suffer from a number of chronic health problems, including leg disorders and heart disease.(5) According to one study, 90 percent of broilers had detectable leg problems, while 26 percent suffered chronic pain as a result of bone disease.(6) Two researchers in The Veterinary Record report, "We consider that birds might have been bred to grow so fast that they are on the verge of structural collapse."(7) Industry journal Feedstuffs reports, "[B]roilers now grow so rapidly that the heart and lungs are not developed well enough to support the remainder of the body, resulting in congestive heart failure and tremendous death losses."(8)

Whether labeled "free-range" or not, if the birds used by agribusiness are the standard "broiler" chicken of today, buying these products involves an enormous amount of animal suffering.

And, as with factory-farmed birds raised for their meat, "free-range" chickens and turkeys may undergo the same grueling and sometimes fatal transport to slaughterhouses when reaching market weight. Workers gather these birds up to four at a time, carrying them upside down by their legs before throwing them into crates on multi-tiered trucks without protection from the heat or cold and without access to food or water. "Free-range" birds end up at the same slaughterhouses as factory-farmed birds, where they are hung upside down, have their throats slit, and bleed to death, often while still fully conscious.

"Free-Range" Cows, Sheep, and Pigs

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), "free-range" beef, pork, and other non-poultry products are loosely defined as coming from animals who ate grass and lived on a range. No other criteria-such as the size of the range or the amount of space given to each animal-are required before beef, lamb, and pork can be called "free-range." "Free-range" and "free-roaming" facilities are rarely inspected or verified to be in compliance with these two criteria. The USDA relies "upon producer testimonials to support the accuracy of these claims."(9)

Even when "free-range" cows, sheep, and pigs are allowed to live outdoors, they are still subjected to excruciating mutilations without painkiller or analgesic, such as castration, branding, dehorning, tail-docking, and tooth-grinding. Once they are fattened to market weight, they are trucked to slaughterhouses. They are denied food, water, and adequate protection from extreme temperatures once in the vehicles, and many die during the trip. These cows, sheep, and pigs are still slaughtered in the same violent ways as factory-farmed animals: They are pushed through narrow chutes, hung upside down on conveyor belts, and have their throats slit; some are dismembered while still fully conscious.

Is a Truly Free-Range World Possible?

The U.S. animal agribusiness industry currently confines and slaughters more than ten billion land animals each year, the overwhelming majority of whom live intensively confined on factory farms where many cannot even turn around or fully stretch their limbs. Would it be possible to raise ten billion animals without intense confinement? Probably not.

If intense confinement operations were banned, it's highly unlikely producers could supply an entire nation of 280 million meat-, egg-, and dairy consumers with enough animal products to sustain the typical American diet. So, without even considering the ethical problems inherent in raising and slaughtering animals for food, from a practical perspective, completely humane farming and slaughtering methods aren't possible.

The Bottom Line

Granted, living in cramped conditions is better than living in even more cramped conditions. Laying hens who have 67 square inches of space per bird likely suffer less than those who have only 50, and giving even 10 out of 10,000 turkeys access to sunlight and the outdoors is better than denying all of them such basic needs. But, clearly, commercial "free-range" farming is not the answer to ending animal abuse.

read more on link

citations on link

Eggs from the store are not humane. If you want to have eggs, I suggest you find a humane farmer in your area or raise your own chickens. Hens live a long time and you don't need a rooster to get eggs. If you know a humane farmer who is also a breeder, you can get replacement hens and know that the roosters who became someone's dinner died a swift and merciful death after a good life, not been chopped up or suffocated as baby chicks.

I recommend only getting rare breed or multi-purpose chickens, because these are the least likely to be disposed of as baby chicks if male, they are either kept as breeders or raised up as meat birds.

Obviously all these comments are directed toward ovo-vegetarians, not vegans. People who eat eggs need to take responsibility for the animals from which their food comes, in my opinion, and not pretend it is "guilt free" just because one is ignorant of the facts.

If you must have them, find a local person who cares humanely for the chickens, then it doesn't carry the guilt associated with the eggs from the factroy farms, those chickens are brutalized.

Thanks guys, I will eat eggs, because i am ovo-lacto i do understand the chicken issue but i do get my directly from the farm.

I don't eat eggs much anymore, due to what I've learned. However, I still buy them on occasion. I bought a dozen yesterday because I wanted to do a peanut butter chocolate cake mix for my husband. I would do the vegan chocolate cake, but I'm outta vinegar. Plus he likes the peanut butter/chcolate.

I might buy another dozen or two this week as Kroger has them on sale for $1. Also, I had to admit, the egg sandwhich (one full egg, one white on wheat toast with ketchup) I had this morning was a nice change from oatmeal.:D

I see for me, I like eggs and it is part of diet. But lately i have been getting sick and i feel dizzy i wonder why?

well, it's not likely caused by eggs. it could be caused by lack of calories in your diet, lack of sleep, or any number of factors. good luck in finding the cause!

I might buy another dozen or two this week as Kroger has them on sale for $1.

I would imagine a lot of suffering went into producing those ones :(

Have you tried EnerG egg replacer - it works great for baked goods.

I am sure it's probably been mentioned in one of the above links, but if a small farmer continues to breed chickens, all of the males are going to end up killed, often as chicks. And if it is for commercial purposes, few of the chickens will end up in chicken retirement community. They will likely be killed once their egg production stops.

As far as what you are OK to eat, the term "ovo-lacto vegetarian" is a description. If you are not eating meat but eating dairy and eggs, then that is what you are. It's up to you to decide what is OK.

I buy Organic Valley eggs, several people on this site have recommended them. They have very humane conditions...it's actually several farms that sell under one company. They sell them in the grocery store~

I read that egg hens and milk cows suffer more than most animals, and that it's actually better to give up milk and eggs then to give up meat. That being said . . . I always thought eggs were gross, so it was easy for me to give them up :) Also, I believe that it's better to give up something than nothing b/c you're trying to give it all up . . .

buying/eating eggs funds animal slaughter. i'm not okay with that, which is why i don't eat meat, dairy OR eggs. there's more to it than just the slaughter of the industry's victims, but that's enough for me...

I am so shocked to hear that so many countries in the world still have battery farms. It literally makes me shudder.

Where I live they have been banned since 1981. You can read about it briefly here:

http://www.awionline.org/farm/hens.htm

I buy Organic Valley eggs, several people on this site have recommended them. They have very humane conditions...

Unless the eggs are from rescue hens at a sanctuary, it's not correct to say "very humane" - it is "more humane." They still kill the male chicks; stack the hens in cages, truck them, and kill them in slaughterhouses after their productivity falls; and everything else that happens out of eyesight on a farm. They are individuals whose bodies are being used for profit and then killed when profitability falls - they're not pets, and they're not rescues, and they're treated as such.

I am so shocked to hear that so many countries in the world still have battery farms. It literally makes me shudder.

Where I live they have been banned since 1981. You can read about it briefly here:

http://www.awionline.org/farm/hens.htmI never knew about Switzerland, that's interesting.

Brings to mind the welfare victories in Austria, I assume you've heard of them?

Brings to mind the welfare victories in Austria, I assume you've heard of them?

No I haven't. Can you shove me in the right direction so I can read about them?

I think it's up to people to make up their own minds about what they do and don't eat, but I personally don't eat eggs as I'm a vegan.

peace and love amy-jane xx

No I haven't. Can you shove me in the right direction so I can read about them?Here. (http://www.ciwf.org.uk/home/news_austria.shtml)