Amphy64 t1_je5kx5k wrote
Reply to comment by LaunchTransient in The Emotional Lives and Personalities of Backyard Chickens - A review of Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them by lnfinity
It's not the keeping them, a vegan might have rescue chickens, it's the use of them, including eggs. There are health problems associated with egg laying, as domestic chickens are bred to lay far more and bigger eggs than their jungle fowl ancestors. So a vegan with rescue chickens would feed the eggs back to the chickens, seeing them as theirs, helping them regain the lost calcium, and also consider hormonal prevention of egg laying. Veganism is primarily against seeing non-human animals as being for human use.
LaunchTransient t1_je5rr6k wrote
>helping them regain the lost calcium
A common practice in smallholding is to feed the egg shells (crushed) back to the chickens in their feed.
>There are health problems associated with egg laying, as domesticchickens are bred to lay far more and bigger eggs than their jungle fowlancestors
A wide sweeping statement which is not accurate for all breeds of chicken. There are hundreds of breeds, from Bantams to Orpingtons, who lay at varying frequencies and various sizes and colours of egg.
>and also consider hormonal prevention of egg laying.
Tinkering with the reproductive system of an animal to satisfy your personal ideology? Surely that's hypocritical under veganism?
>Veganism is primarily against seeing non-human animals as being for human use.
I take the view that responsible and considerate husbandry of most animals can be symbiotic or commensalist. If the animals are healthy and happy whilst also providing milk/eggs/wool/honey, I see no issue with it.
queercactus505 t1_je6ks7b wrote
Amphy is correct. Some vegans who have chickens (often chickens originally intended for commercial egg production) cook and feed the eggs back to their chickens. Hormonal prevention of egg laying hapoens in the form of a device implanted under the skin (like Suprelorin). This is an expensive ($90-$600 a pop), hard to source, and a temporary measure (effectiveness varies from hen to hen and can last from 2 weeks to two years) and is mostly used for hens who are ill and have a higher chance of dying or who have reproductive system issues. Neither the effects of pain involved in laying, nor the effects of hormone use, have been extensively studied. I would love to see more research about this. It is true that there are many species of chickens. In my area, leghorns are used most for egg production because they can begin laying after only a few months and lay up to 300 eggs a year. I'm glad I don't have to lay 300 eggs a year 😅
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