Store Bought - Vegetarian Fed???

[Winston1]

Never really paid attention until I had my flock of 6 [minus 1 Winston RIP]...why do egg marketing people think it's a good thing to market on the egg carton "VEGETARIAN FED"????? That to me, would signal "unhealthy" as chickens that free range eat bugs, worms, insects....it's what they do.

This is bonkers to me as chickens are carnivores...I mean, it can't be for those vegan weirdos because that doesn't make sense. What is going on here, could someone explain to me?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Never really paid attention until I had my flock of 6 [minus 1 Winston RIP]...why do egg marketing people think it's a good thing to market on the egg carton "VEGETARIAN FED"????? That to me, would signal "unhealthy" as chickens that free range eat bugs, worms, insects....it's what they do.

This is bonkers to me as chickens are carnivores...I mean, it can't be for those vegan weirdos because that doesn't make sense. What is going on here, could someone explain to me?

You mean Chickens are Omnivores? Cuz they're not Carnivores.

It's a marketing thing.

 

[Winston1]

You mean Chickens are Omnivores? Cuz they're not Carnivores.

It's a marketing thing.

oops, you are correct omnivores. It just was weird when I saw "vegetarian fed"

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I agree. It took me ages to find food that wasn’t soy-based.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Do they feed them vegetarians? The same with all those skin products they test on dermatologists (dermatologist tested)…yes, I’m being silly.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I realize your question didn’t really get answered. I suspect the reason that vegetarianism in any species is used a marketing ploy is because we as a society as disconnected from where food actually comes from that most people assume a vegetarian diet for a chicken is the next best thing to a chicken that is allowed out to forage in a pasture. I have a pasture and chickens. Guess where my chickens don’t hang out? The pasture. Because 1) it’s dangerous and 2) given the choice chickens prefer bugs and seeds and berries and other fun stuff they fine in the forest, which is where their ancestors evolved. Chickens are more likely to spend time in a pasture if you have other livestock there because they can dig through it’s poop for undigested seeds and grains.

There are a couple threads on here about modern chicken feed that take a very deep dive on this sort of thing. If you use the search tool you might find yourself learning a lot about modern chicken feed but you might also find yourself down a rabbit hole.