A Specific Question For Clarity's Sake?

Question

A little while ago someone asked a question as to why vegans won't eat eggs. The majority of the responses claimed that it wasn't the eggs themselves that put them off, it's the way the chickens are treated.

So my question is would those vegans eat eggs from wild birds such as ducks? Completely hypothetical of course but I'm compelled to ask because their answers to the other question seem to infer that.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuG9ZjecxXPDwcklHsHSFhp26xR.;_ylv=3?qid=20080602130254AABJNJb

Answer 1

I have my own chickens and I don't eat their eggs just because it seems so weird, it would be like eating my dog's egg or something, and I do occasionally eat eggs.

Answer 2

If I owned my own chickens (or other fowl, I suppose) I would probably eat their eggs because they are not being harmed or mistreated.  I don't eat eggs because they are part of a system I don't want to support or give money to, a system that is, I believe, incredibly cruel.  

For a while before I was vegan I bought free range and cage-free eggs, but then I learned that there are little to no regulations on these titles and that the chickens still face mistreatment - besides, they are eventually sold off to slaughter no matter what conditions they are kept in while they are laying hens.

Answer 3

I'm a vegan and I wouldn't eat eggs from anything. The whole concept has always been gross to me. Bird embryo? No thanks!

Answer 4

No, they wouldn't.

I'm not even vegetarian, but since you asked I would say eating wild eggs is worse than eating farmed eggs.  Wild eggs would most likely be fertile and by collecting them you would impact the populations of the wild birds.  Farmed eggs are not fertile, so consumption of them has no impact on survivial of the species.

Answer 5

Wild birds such as ducks would have fertilized eggs; I would not eat a fertilized egg.

However, I think your point is, would we eat eggs if we knew the egg-laying bird was being treated well?

I, personally, would.  I don't like the black-and-white "you ate an egg last year; you're NOT a vegan!!!" definition.  The goal in vegetarianism/veganism is to prevent animal suffering.  If you can find a way to obtain eggs without causing animal suffering, why not?

If I owned the hen myself, and she could have free run of a large enough space to be happy, I would eat her eggs.  It would cause no harm to her.

Answer 6

No, I wouldn't.

I won't eat anything that comes from an animal. Who am I to take it - regardless if it was fertilized or not...regardless if it would just sit and rot anyway.

That's none of my concern. I think nature and the animals that exist in it were designed to work and function in a certain way. Humans do not need to interfere with that - nor should we be opportunists where nature is concerned.

Answer 7

I myself would not.  There are probably some people who would, but I think it would be on a case by case basis.

The reason I would not eat duck eggs is this.  I feel that I have broken my dependence on animal products.  I do not want to eat them anymore under any circumstances, unless I absolutely have to...like if I were stranded somewhere...and even then I would wait days until I finally gave in.  I would rather be hungry than to let my morals and ethics go down with the tub water.

Also, although the duck egg wouldn't be fertilized, it would still belong to the animal.  It wouldn't be in our place to take it.  If we did, before you know it there would be a market for those too...

You posed an interesting question.  There are just some vegans who aren't going to change their mind.

Answer 8

Absolutely not, vegans do not eat eggs. Eggs are flesh foods. They are embryonic chickens and furthermore Vegans do not exploit animals.   Lacto Vegetarians.do not eat eggs either for the same reasons. The production of eggs is horrid, and the treatment of the animals is appalling but that is only one reason for not eating eggs. They are also loaded with Salmonella as are the chickens themselves. I hope that helps to clarify the issue for you..

Answer 9

A vegan will not eat any animal or their products.

Answer 10

I went with a vegan b4 and believe me they will put meat in their mouths

Answer 11

we did a 4-H experiment when i was in the 6th grade where my teacher had an incubator full of chicken eggs, and every few days she would crack one open to see the development of the thing, by the end of it there was like a beak and an eye. it was gruesome! that's why i stopped.

  the guy pointing out the fertilized wild egg bird population has a good point