Why Do You Eat Animals?

[Lucrecious]

Alright, sorry for the lack of responses, I have university and I'm very busy.

So after doing a bit of research, and carefully reading your posts, I put aside my stubbornness, and I finally agree with you guys.
I have no further arguments.

Eggs will soon be out of my diet (I don't want to waste the ones I already have).

Thanks for the discussions,
Lucrecious

[brimstoneSalad]

Eggs will soon be out of my diet (I don't want to waste the ones I already have).

Thanks for the discussions,
Lucrecious

That's great.
Thank you for being open minded. It's refreshing to see.

Did you check out my threads on hypothetical farming and backyard rescue hens?
I try to be as open minded as possible on the issue (without succumbing to the irrational).

[thebestofenergy]

Ah, I didn't think that would have happened
Do you think I was too aggressive with my posts?
Is there anything I could have said, that would have changed your mind quicker?
Should have I expressed myself more in details?

[Lucrecious]

I don't know how you would have changed my mind faster.

I knew that I had no way to argue anything you guys said, and I don't really have an emotional attachment to eggs - I just like them.
I just like them < arguments proposed

I would change my mind again if I was somehow convinced otherwise with logic and reasoning that combats your arguments.
I try to be open minded to both sides but right now my bias is towards vegan-ism.

Going vegan is too logical... haha

I don't think the arguments were too aggressive, I never took anything personally, they seemed pretty fair and neutral.

PS: I haven't checked out those threads mentioned, I'll give them a look over the weekend (hopefully). I'll just be lurking around the forum for now.

[brimstoneSalad]

I knew that I had no way to argue anything you guys said, and I don't really have an emotional attachment to eggs - I just like them.
I just like them < arguments proposed

Kala Namak, or black Indian salt, pretty much tastes like egg.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_Namak

Used with tofu, it's hard to tell the difference in most dishes.

You need a binder to make a omelette though; a bit of starch usually does the trick, but it's not as strong.
Here's a recipe that doesn't use black salt (though a little black salt will make it eggier):
http://www.mrbreakfast.com/superdisplay ... ipeid=3002

It's mostly just tofu and starch, nutritionally/structurally.

PS: I haven't checked out those threads mentioned, I'll give them a look over the weekend (hopefully). I'll just be lurking around the forum for now.

Hope you enjoy them and they provide some food for thought.

[PrincessPeach]

I don't know how you would have changed my mind faster.

I knew that I had no way to argue anything you guys said, and I don't really have an emotional attachment to eggs - I just like them.
I just like them < arguments proposed

I would change my mind again if I was somehow convinced otherwise with logic and reasoning that combats your arguments.
I try to be open minded to both sides but right now my bias is towards vegan-ism.

Going vegan is too logical... haha

I don't think the arguments were too aggressive, I never took anything personally, they seemed pretty fair and neutral.

PS: I haven't checked out those threads mentioned, I'll give them a look over the weekend (hopefully). I'll just be lurking around the forum for now.

[Steve]

If your eggs cost less than around $2 each (NOT per dozen- they should be $24 a dozen at least), the hens are not treated well- it's economically impossible.

Respectfully, how did you make this determination? This seems like an arbitrary figure you came up with to support your views.

[brimstoneSalad]

Respectfully, how did you make this determination? This seems like an arbitrary figure you came up with to support your views.

Most male chicks are killed (save a small number of breeding stock)

Cost x 2 (to support the cost of taking care of the males).

Chickens are killed far short of their natural life spans, which is 15 - 20 years, when egg production drops- which is usually around 2-3 years of age, but I'm being very generous and saying 5 years (which is for most unreasonably long).
Assuming a 15 year average (again, being conservative):

Cost x 3 (to support a natural lifespan instead of killing the chickens when they're young)

Now we have a x 6 cost.

A $2 egg is about the cheapest you'll find for "free range", which is basically factory farming with loopholes, up to $5 is more typical for something more believable (for smaller farms, better feed, more grass area, etc.). You'd have to examine details of the conditions of these different farms to determine which ones were really decent; I'd be inclined to believe a $4 egg could have been from a farm with conditions half decent during the time the chicken was allowed to live.

That accounts for spillage and other factors in shipping, so if you multiply $4 x 6 = $24

Veterinary costs also increase greatly after the first few years of life; $100 a year is pretty typical, for reasonable medical care. Not only are they living longer at normal cost, but costs increase with age (feed cost isn't very consequential).

If you want to do it another way:
If you really push it, a chicken might lay 1,000 eggs in a lifetime; that's 83 and a third dozen.

Let's imagine this is a fantasy world where distribution and packaging are free, and there's no spillage at all (that's completely unreasonable, but I'm being very generous here).

At $24 a dozen, with a chicken living 15 years (completely ignoring the fact that half the chicks are killed, and imagining somebody came up with a way to do sex selective abortions - or just saying we don't even care about the male chicks that are ground up), that's only $133.33 a year, as a budget to take care of the average chicken.

That's a tight budget on its own (just basic care, feeding, and medical as mentioned); you'd be hard pressed to take care of a pet chicken on that (which was the standard mentioned). Assuming you have a bigger farm and you're getting bulk rates on things, it's conceivable.

But then, let's step back into the reality of distribution costs, spillage, etc. You're looking at a budget closer to half of that. Highly impractical, and unlikely, but on the outside marginally conceivable.

I said at least $24, because that was low-balling it.

Respectfully, Steve, these are obvious factors that thirty seconds of research would have revealed, which is why I didn't bother to break them down. I'm a bit amazed at your skepticism, but it highlights your ignorance of the industry.

I don't pull numbers out of the air to support my views- quite the contrary, my views are based on the numbers. Unlike yours, I suspect, given your ignorance of said numbers.

If you're interested in this topic (or interested in being a morally decent human being), please do the research for yourself. You will come to the same conclusion.

I'm not inherently against using animals for any purpose (there are many purposes for which I support animal use), but some things are just inherently cruel and inefficient to the point that doing them is just wholly irrational.

[King of the Infidels]

I eat meat because it tastes good and if it tastes good that's all that matters. If I tried Human Meat and it tastes good I would eat human meat because hell why not? Meat is delicious so there!

[Humane Hominid]

I eat meat because it tastes good and if it tastes good that's all that matters. If I tried Human Meat and it tastes good I would eat human meat because hell why not? Meat is delicious so there!

Well, that sure set us straight. Time to post some cannibal recipes!