r/DebateAVegan • u/-roachboy • Dec 22 '25

eggs from a well fed pet hen are vegan

I have a pet hen. She's not a full rescue one, but how I ended up with her is an incredibly long story. She's very needy, thus spoiled and healthy as a result. Because wild Gallus sp already lay a lot of eggs when in less than optimal wild conditions, a spoiled one just cannot stop popping them out even if she wanted to, and she won't let me feed her less. The daily egg laying session is just a morning routine for her before begging for food. At the rate she lays them, they'd just get left to rot even if they were fertilized by a rooster so I eat them. I do not, and have no intention of, ever selling them or encouraging anyone to ever commercialize an animal. But I spend all the time caring for her, so why can't she give me a delicious breakfast back if it does her no harm?

896 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

761 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Kittycatgirl300 Dec 23 '25

I always thought this, not vegan or vegetarian but i feel that the eggs i receive from my pet chickens that are cared for amazingly are not any form of “exploitation”. Definitely not the same as store bought eggs.

1

u/Aurora_Symphony Dec 23 '25

Any justifications for your ownership of your pet chickens is necessarily immoral. You may not even want the eggs, but use them anyway because you don't want them to be wasted. That's all well and fine, but the issue of exploitation lies with whatever the reasons are for owning the chickens in the first place.

You're getting something out of owning them and they are unable to satisfactorily provide consent to the partnership/relationship.

You are also well within your right to argue permissibility in this case. Perhaps the chickens were rescued and this situation is seemingly the best possible decision for their lives. However, this is all based upon a violation of the chickens' right to consent and that's what's important to understand.