I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I'm not sure about eating eggs, help?

Question

I'm not sure about eating eggs. Isn't that like, killing an animal or something?

Isn't that like when a baby gets aborted?

How are the eggs made? If a chicken give birth to eggs & waiting for it to be hatched.

Then a farmer takes it for food. So was that egg supposed to be a hatched?

So is it like, not giving a chick a chance to live or be born?

How are the eggs unfertilized/fertilized etc?

Answer 1

It's not that the egg itself is killing an animal.  It's that the animal that produced the egg was kept in misery in order to produce that egg.  In addition, animal products are bad for you.  Being vegetarian is about eating what's good for your body (which eliminates animal products) and not harming animals.

Answer 2

Well...it appears to me that eggs are sort of like a woman having her period.  I know, that's probably enough to turn you off from eggs right away, but please allow me to finish.

If the hen cannot find a rooster to mate with, she lays unfertilized eggs.  These are the eggs that humans eat.  So it's not killing an animal.  By some stretch, it's preventing an animal from reproducing.  Compared to humans, it is like birth control, not abortion.  If you want to decide whether you are against this, decide whether you are against contraception for humans.

Answer 3

no,food eggs were fertilized so they could not become a baby chiken

Answer 4

Hi Ricardo! You can eat eggs without feeling guilty, they need to be fertilized in order to be hatched. The eggs you get for breakfast have not been fertilized. I'm a former vegetarian (taking a break for a while) and I remember I had a hard time eating eggs and drinking milk-until I learned that it was fine.

Also, (I'm one of your contacts)-do you think you could enable your Yahoo! Answers Messaging so we can talk to each other?

Thanks!

Answer 5

I don't eat eggs because some egg factory farms hurt the chickens even though they don't kill them but some farms let there chicken be free and they just pick up the eggs on the grass and there chickens are happy and chickens will lay eggs with or with out ''doing it'' if they ''did it'' with a male rooster the eggs will have baby's inside and if the don't ''do it'' they won't  so there are no baby's inside and the egg will go rotten if something doesn't eat it but personally I think we should give them to dogs cats snakes rats etc so we don't have to eat them yuck  

Answer 6

As others have pointed out, the eggs you buy in the store are unfertilized, so they could never become a chicken.  It really is more like a period than an abortion or miscarriage.

The objections vegans have to eggs have to do with the way the hens are treated.  Check out www.eggindustry.com for more information.

But, yes, eggs are indicated on an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet.

Answer 7

Everyone is right saying only fertilized eggs can hatch (need a rooster).  BUT:  Primates are the only animals that menstruate so you can cancel out the "chicken period", that is so retarded and ignorant.  Yes, the yolks are produced from the ovaries.  As they pass along down the tubes, the rest of the egg is formed.  Last step is the calcium shell.  It might sound disgusting but eggs are amazing.  They are natures most perfect food, containing all 9 essential amino acids, all 3 essential fatty acids, and all the vitamins and minerals needed to sustain life.  They even contain choline, which makes your brain work better.

If you are worried about how the hen has been treated, visit your local farmer's market and purchase some home grown eggs.  They are the best anyways!  yum yum

Answer 8

As others have already said, the eggs in grocery stores are unfertilized.

However, many people avoid eggs because of the way the egg-laying hens are treated. On factory farms, the birds are crammed into tiny wire cages so small that they can't even flap their wings. They're denied everything that is natural or pleasurable to them. Farmers slaughter the hens after they stop producing many eggs, usually after just 1 or 2 years. Male chicks are worthless to the egg industry (because they don't produce eggs)... at hatcheries, male chicks are often thrown into high-speed grinders while still conscious.

More info:

http://www.chooseveg.com/eggs.asp

Answer 9

Im also a lacto-ovo vegetarian.

The eggs you get from the grocery have never been fertilized, all they will ever be is just an egg. The eggs will never become chickens, no matter how warm you keep it, or anything. =)

Answer 10

You can eat eggs because not from every egg is born a chicken. Some eggs are fertile and some are not. And there are some hens that can hatch. So then a hen can hatch maybe 20 eggs, eggs that are made from other hens as well. So  if you have 20 hens and you get maybe 6 eggs a day, think that maybe two hens will hatch on an entire year maximum 40 eggs. So from 40 eggs are born chicken. And what do you want to do with the rest? So eat eggs because anyway more then 20 chicken from a hen that hatch won't be born.  

Answer 11

chickens naturally lay eggs w/o mating with a male. typically these chickens are kept in crates so they have no contact with other chickens. the eggs fall onto a conveyer belt type thing and are brought to the farmers. -no contact with a male.

thus eggs should not be fertalized and are just empty eggs much like when a woman ovulates.

Answer 12

Eggs that are sold commercially are not fertilised. Therefore they would not end up turning into chickens one day. If a hen gets 'clucky' and wants to sit on her eggs this is when they are fertilised and will likely turn into chicks. If not, they are simply useless to the hen.

I've seen an egg farm- they have 4-6 hens locked up in tiny cages which they usually can't stand up in. Lights are kept on all day so the hens will lay more eggs. There aren't any roosters around which is of course why the eggs are useless for reproduction.

You can buy free-range eggs but be careful- a recent study in Australia showed that there were alot more free-range eggs on the market than could be produced from the free-range farms.  

Answer 13

Is this a serious post?

Here is an "over the top" reply.

"someone who eats dairy" is going to be so tripped out on antibiotics / growth hormones / cow adrenalin / mastitis pus / prions etc., etc. that they should have no problem whatsoever in eating eggs / placenta's / "road kill".........

Answer 14

If you don't let the chickens get it on, then the eggs just come out as tasty snacks for humans.  The problem is that chicken egg production is an orwellian nightmare.  It's like the Matrix only without the entertaining fantasy world.  Free range is not as free as you might be led to believe, either.

Buy free range and eat them - you need the protein.  If you can find a local small farmer who sells eggs that might be more humane.

Answer 15

No it isn't like abortion. The eggs you can purchase are unfertilized meaning they do not contain embryos. They are "chicken periods".

But some people are also opposed to eating eggs because of the treatment and general conditions in which the hens are kept. Some choose to eat "organic free range eggs" where the hens are generally treated better (allowed to roam, fed adequately etc) than factory farm hens.

As with most animals, a male and female are required before conception takes place. An egg farm does not have roosters to fertilize the eggs.

Answer 16

no, food eggs were never fertilized so they couldn't become a baby chicken

Answer 17

A lacto-ovo-vegetarian is a vegetarian who does not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but is willing to consume dairy and egg products.

Answer 18

eggs that we eat are unfertilized. they wouldn't become chickens even if they were left in the chicken coup.

i don't eat eggs anyway. very gross.

lacto-ovo veg means that you do eat eggs and milk products.. so maybe you're just a lacto veg?

Answer 19

Eggs are unfertilized. Hens lay eggs whether theres a rooster there or not. If you keep a rooster with the hens, the eggs will be fertilized. But egg companies only have hens.  But you may want to consider the way egg laying hens are treated. In my opinion they have it worse than chickens killed for food. at least chickens killed for food aren't caged. But it is still very crowded though.