Please Clarify Something For Me

[sweetshoplady]

What is a "Vegetarian" Chicken?

If a chicken eats bugs is it not a vegetarian? Why is it important whether a chicken is a vegetarian or not? Don't they eat the yolk before they hatch? They can eat eggs - I consider that a meat.

 

[McGoo]

Some people don't feed their chickens any meat products, so aside from the bugs they find, they are considered vegetarian.

I have had people ask about this when they are considering eating one of their eggs. Frankly, chickens are omnivores and they do love a little meat now and then - not to mention those mealy worms.

ps. I've also had people refuse to eat their eggs because they could have been fertilized (though not viable). Their loss.

 

[ctlynn]

I agree -- if your chickens range at all, they are eating bugs, and therefore not vegetarians.

Would being kept on a vegetarian diet would effect the nutritional quality of the egg?

 

[greyfields]

Most major feed makers will have a "certified vegetarian" line of feed for you hens, so you can market/claim that they were given a certified feed. The issue is not really about chicken health, but human health. As you're probably aware, there are some human diseases which can be contracted from animals who were fed other animals. Mad cow diseae is the big one and can be linked to cows being fed beef meal and bone meal from other infected cows.

So, it's bascially a gurantee that I can tell my customers that my chickens were NOT fed chicken. Because it's creepy and they shouldn't be fed chicken. Unfortunately a lot of animal food is still made from "animal protien meal" as the main ingredient, and this generic form can contain anything including househeld pets. :\\

 

[sweetshoplady]

The reason I ask is because when looking thru grocery store eggs at Publix, many of them were labeled "Vegetarian Hens". Even the organic ones.

One package of them at WalMart said that they were "Happy Hens from Oklahoma." The ads on TV about the "Happy Cows from California" for milk always have a couple of black bulls in there asking the cows if they work out or pretending to be French and lonely so the cows will go out with them, and the cows like to sing. So I guess the "Happy Hens from Oklahoma" must have roosters flirting with them making them happy.

I saw Free Range, Cage Free, but nothing about Vegetarian Hens.

I sell eggs only on occasion. But I would think I'd say I had "Happy Hens that free-range, and the eggs are fresh."

Where I buy feed, they sell eggs. It's a home store. The people live there and they have all kinds of animals. Its a fun place to go.

Yes, I have heard that people can be leary of eating a fertilized egg.

 

[EggCentric]

Our walmart has eggs that say "Vegetarian Fed", I always get a giggle at that because if any of my vegetarian friends come up missing, I know what happened to them!

 

[lauralou]

 

[hooligan]

Quote:

I better watch out then!

I feed my chickens Layena, which is a vegetarian food simply because I do not want all the nasty additives that other companies put in pellets. Mine do get meat, worms, and lots of cooked stuff but they also get fruits and veggies as well.
I don't label mine as vegetarian bc that would be a lie. But I do say they are "better than organic" (thanks to MissPrissy)

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Miss Prissy:

Can you enlighten us as to the "nasty additives" that the other feed companies put in their pellets? I'd sure like to know so I can have my company pull them out of our feeds.

Jim

 

[hooligan]

The "better than organic" quote is from MissPrissy. Not the other.

What do you put in your company's pellets and do you have a link to your company's website?