We Kid You Not Childfree Forums

(09-02-2009 03:23 PM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-02-2009 12:00 PM)jmk3482 Wrote: [ -> ]

(09-02-2009 11:24 AM)CF Scorpio Wrote: [ -> ]ITA. I can get eggs at the farmer's market, but I can't avoid every food with eggs in it, or I'd never go out to eat or buy somethine premade ever again!

I have a dumb question. Why can't roosters be raised for meat? I understand that they fight with each other, but still...does their flesh taste bad or something?

I raise my own chickens so I never buy eggs but I agree, I can't avoid things with cruetly eggs in them. As to your question about why can't roosters be raised for meat: there are different breeds of chickens. There are egg chickens, and meat chickens. (Just like meat cows and milk cows.) Egg chickens produce bigger eggs in larger quantities over their life time than meat chickens do. And many of them produce those pristine white eggs that everyone is used to. But egg chickens tend to be relatively skinny with not much meat on them. Meat chickens don't lay as many eggs as egg chickens and they tend to lay brown eggs but they are much more "meaty," literally. They've been bred to have more muscle on their bones.

So, when egg producers breed egg chickens, and they get a rooster, the time and money spend feeding and raising that rooster for meat would be valued more than the amount of money they could get by selling the meat from that chicken. So they would essentially be losing money trying to raise egg roosters for meat.

This is also the reason why, when you buy chicks and have them shipped through the post office, if you order less than 25, they will add egg rooster chicks to your order to fill it out so the chicks will stay warm enough for the trip to you. I had this happen and I ended up with 7 roosters I didn't pay for, or ask for. I had to butcher them, and while they were tasty, not much meat on them.

That's interesting to know. I only buy brown eggs, though, I haven't bought a white egg in more than a decade. Maybe the eggs I buy are from meat hens? I usually only buy free range organic, or cage free organic.

When I was in the UK on a trip a few years ago, DH & I stayed at a B&B in the Yorkshire Dales and the couple who own it keep a few hens and a couple of roosters in the back garden roaming around. Each morning they provide fresh eggs for breakfast, like nothing I've ever tasted. The eggs were various shades of brownish, whiteish, speckly, and blue. Yes, blue. And they were absolutely amazing. I wonder what kind of hen makes them so random colored and blue?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the color of the eggs come from the food that the hen eats?

Off to google...

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Why are Chicken Eggs Different Colors?

Chicken eggs from various chicken breeds emerge in different shades because of pigments which are deposited as the eggs move through the hen's oviduct. The pigment depositions are determined by the chicken's genetics, with some breeds producing rich dark brown eggs, for example, while others lay snow white eggs. The eggs inside are essentially identical; there are no major flavor differences between chicken eggs from different birds, as the flavor is determined by the chicken's diet.

More details here:
http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-chicken-...colors.htm

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(09-02-2009 03:23 PM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]The eggs were various shades of brownish, whiteish, speckly, and blue. Yes, blue. And they were absolutely amazing. I wonder what kind of hen makes them so random colored and blue?

It is also possible to find blue to green chicken eggs, which come from the Aracuana, a breed of chicken developed in Chile. Araucanas have also been crossed with other breeds to produce the Americauna, sometimes called the “Easter egg chicken” in a reference to its multicolored eggs.

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-chicken-...colors.htm

No link-clicking for me. I don't think I could be a vegan, so I will try to do good for animals in other ways. But, don't you wonder that any human being could do this to any animal? I hope I never meet anyone who has done this. Butchering is different. There are humane ways. My family is from WAY out in the country so proper butchering has gone on all the time. There's a right way and a wrong way. This is wrong.

Most of the people who work in these places are immigrant non-English speakers. The working conditions are deplorable, another reason not to eat meat. There have been several exposes of the labor conditions at meat processing plants in the South - could probably be found via Google. The plants have roughly 100% annual turnover in staff, in part due to injuries, which are rampant in the industry.

(09-02-2009 04:28 PM)CF Scorpio Wrote: [ -> ]Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the color of the eggs come from the food that the hen eats?

Off to google...

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Why are Chicken Eggs Different Colors?

Chicken eggs from various chicken breeds emerge in different shades because of pigments which are deposited as the eggs move through the hen's oviduct. The pigment depositions are determined by the chicken's genetics, with some breeds producing rich dark brown eggs, for example, while others lay snow white eggs. The eggs inside are essentially identical; there are no major flavor differences between chicken eggs from different birds, as the flavor is determined by the chicken's diet.

More details here:
http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-chicken-...colors.htm

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(09-02-2009 03:23 PM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]The eggs were various shades of brownish, whiteish, speckly, and blue. Yes, blue. And they were absolutely amazing. I wonder what kind of hen makes them so random colored and blue?

It is also possible to find blue to green chicken eggs, which come from the Aracuana, a breed of chicken developed in Chile. Araucanas have also been crossed with other breeds to produce the Americauna, sometimes called the “Easter egg chicken” in a reference to its multicolored eggs.

http://www.wisegeek.com/why-are-chicken-...colors.htm

Correct! The Americana lays eggs in shades of blue, green and pink! Genetics are the cause. Same reason Robins lay blue eggs.
Here is pretty Americana girl and her eggs.

The most common chicken used for white eggs that you see in the store is the White Leghorn:

A very popular brown egg layer is the Buff Orpington:

And a common meat bird is the Cornish:

(09-02-2009 05:21 PM)catsnotkids Wrote: [ -> ]Most of the people who work in these places are immigrant non-English speakers. The working conditions are deplorable, another reason not to eat meat. There have been several exposes of the labor conditions at meat processing plants in the South - could probably be found via Google. The plants have roughly 100% annual turnover in staff, in part due to injuries, which are rampant in the industry.

Oh, know Cats, is it so awful.
I watched about 2-3 minutes of the Documentary Death on a Factory Farm and couldn't touch any meat products for many, many months afterwards.
I cried and cried after I saw only a part of the show. Geez, what is wrong with me....I am starting to tear up just thinking about it. Anyway, I did catch part of the ending which was actually nice, though.
I should avoid meat. I only really like chicken, but I do like the occasional hamburger. Yes, I do feel a bit guilty when I eat it, too.

Something about cruelty towards animals brings out such a strong, strange mixture of emotions in me...one that I never, ever seem to feel towards anything else in this world.

(09-02-2009 06:48 PM)beachbum Wrote: [ -> ]Something about cruelty towards animals brings out such a strong, strange mixture of emotions in me...one that I never, ever seem to feel towards anything else in this world.

Yes, exactly. That's what I was trying to articulate. I feel physically sick, but moreso... SPIRITUALLY sick. Like I'm watching and condoning a slaughter. Like by my inaction, I'm allowing it to happen. I feel SOOO helpless when I think about the MAMMOTH nature of factory farming and how it feeds hundreds of millions of people and little old me refusing to buy a burger is such a fucking drop on the forest fire.

I could never ever ever eat meat for this reason.

One time a couple of years ago, I went to a quaker retreat, and I told them I was a vegetarian and allergic to peppers. The food at this place is DYNAMITE, and I have nothing but good things to say about it 99% of the time. But for some reason, they thought this time, this was two different people, so the vegetarian dish had peppers and the meat dish didn't. When I arrived, I stupidly asked for the "special dish made without peppers" and they pointed to it. It was some kind of casserole, just enough to hide the meat. I took a HUGE bite of it. Chewed it up and thought it tasted awfully meaty, but then again I eat a lot of fake-meat products, and they do taste meaty. I remember it in slow motion... chewing chewing chewing then swallowing. And then suddenly realizing what I'd done.

I have never felt so sick in my life. I really honestly thought I was going to throw up. I couldn't throw up though. But I went back to my room, and I actually CRIED. I don't know how to describe it, it was a feeling like I'd actually murdered the cow myself with my bare hands. I really felt like a participant in a murder. That's the only way to describe it.

It was an honest mistake, and I tried not to be upset about it, but I was. It's exactly how you describe it, BB, a strange mixture of emotions.

I'm with you, Jo. I haven't eaten meat since January of 1991. I don't miss it a bit!

I know what you mean, Jo. I have been vegetarian (borderline vegan) for six months now (for animal rights reasons) and I'm not tempted anymore, I no longer see animals as food. Although I do make mistakes- sometimes I'll forget to check ingredients on products and then get them home only to realize they have rennet or gelatin in them. The other week I bought a tin of beans and I was about to take a bite when I noticed a "meaty" chunk in there. Looked in the ingredients list and it was ham. I was so mad that I'd given my money to pig farmers, but I was glad I stopped before I ate any, I would have felt disgusting if I had.

This is horrifying. I couldn't watch the video either, just hearing about it is too much. Corporations are destroying our collective morals. IMHO. This is just despicable, all in the name of making as much profit as possible. Sickening and maddening. I can't believe human beings don't respect other animals enough to do this to them. They are living beings and they can feel this happening to them!

However, it is super hard to avoid eating eggs! They are in everything and corporations are providing more of our food and taking over Mom and Pop farms everyday. (Also disgusting) I wish there was a way to know exactly where your food comes from and if you don't agree with the practices to not buy it. I would never eat anything that was produced from a business that operates that way.

I'm a semi-vegetarian I eat chicken (only rarely) turkey (very rarely) eggs and fish. It would be nice to give up chicken and eggs completely but I have been a vegetarian on and off for years and get really weak if I don't eat some form of meat once a month at least. I can't imagine an easy way to give up eggs. When I get invited out for dinner people get frustrated with my eating habits NOW. I can't imagine having to make sure nothing has eggs in it.

I am becoming vegan, because of the cruelty rampant in the food industry. I can't watch videos like this. I'm way too sensitive. I was already aware of this, and it's reprehensible.

We have some eggs left over from D's mom and sister's visit. I'm not sure what we will do with them yet.

EDITED TO ADD: I will not be seeing the movie, "Food, Inc." even though I feel it is a very important movie and that everyone should see it, because I'm told/have read that there is a lot of slaughterhouse footage. I just...can't sit through stuff like that.

Jen M.