Vegans of BYC!!

[Callender Girl]

Over the weekend, I had a non-vegan houseguest. He was initially pretty wary of my "weird" eating habits.

On the first morning, I asked if he would like to try one of my homemade vegan breakfast sausage patties. He gingerly agreed to "try one." On the second morning, he asked if he could have two.

I noticed he was also pretty comfortable with raiding my cookie jar -- my oatmeal raisin cookies are made with unsweetened apple sauce and oat milk. And, he liked my rustic, crusty no-knead vegan bread so much that he took a copy of the recipe with him when he left.

Hmm. Maybe my food isn't so "weird" after all.

 

[BelovedBirds]

Over the weekend, I had a non-vegan houseguest. He was initially pretty wary of my "weird" eating habits.

On the first morning, I asked if he would like to try one of my homemade vegan breakfast sausage patties. He gingerly agreed to "try one." On the second morning, he asked if he could have two.

I noticed he was also pretty comfortable with raiding my cookie jar -- my oatmeal raisin cookies are made with unsweetened apple sauce and oat milk. And, he liked my rustic, crusty no-knead vegan bread so much that he took a copy of the recipe with him when he left.

Hmm. Maybe my food isn't so "weird" after all.

"weird eating habits"

All of those things sound delicious!

 

[WIchickMama]

Vegetarian here, I eat my chickens eggs, the local CSA duck eggs and goat milk, all local and all humane places. Other than that it is veggies and fruits, again mostly grown by me or the CSA. I do it for health reasons and animal cruelty.

 

[Callender Girl]

I think poor Michael was afraid he was going to have to eat nothing but carrot sticks and celery all weekend! He admitted he was surprised by how much he liked my vegan alternative foods.

Sausage, as I pointed out to Michael, is all about the seasoning. I used to make my own out of ground pork; now I use pretty much the same spices but substitute oatmeal with TVP to get a similar texture to the missing meat.

I have a few vegan cookbooks and my new hobby is making dishes that non-vegans -- like Michael -- will find are really not that different from what they're used to eating. And, are actually tasty!

Again, I'm not strictly a "vegan," because I refuse to waste all those eggs my perfectly spoiled poultry produce. And, there are a few non-vegan foods I'm trying to wean myself away from (I really, really missed real smoked Gouda for quite a while).

Perfection -- in veganism like everything else -- is impossible. I am sometimes surprised to read a label and learn about items I would never have suspected contained animal products.

Also, I have a couple of rescue dogs. Dogs don't understand veganism at all.

 

[BelovedBirds]

I think poor Michael was afraid he was going to have to eat nothing but carrot sticks and celery all weekend! He admitted he was surprised by how much he liked my vegan alternative foods.

Sausage, as I pointed out to Michael, is all about the seasoning. I used to make my own out of ground pork; now I use pretty much the same spices but substitute oatmeal with TVP to get a similar texture to the missing meat.

I have a few vegan cookbooks and my new hobby is making dishes that non-vegans -- like Michael -- will find are really not that different from what they're used to eating. And, are actually tasty!

Again, I'm not strictly a "vegan," because I refuse to waste all those eggs my perfectly spoiled poultry produce. And, there are a few non-vegan foods I'm trying to wean myself away from (I really, really missed real smoked Gouda for quite a while).

Perfection -- in veganism like everything else -- is impossible. I am sometimes surprised to read a label and learn about items I would never have suspected contained animal products.

Also, I have a couple of rescue dogs. Dogs don't understand veganism at all.

This is true! It takes a lot of time and research to choose vegan alternatives, honestly occassionally I still get cravings for kebabs- ughh- but it gets easier and easier, I rarely think about meat or dairy by this point, I usually just crave home made vegan snacks and meals, it's amazing how stuff so simple can be so delicious! Like roasted seasoned chickpeas or fried beans!!

Dogs are interesting, commercial dog food loses a lot of nutrients whole being processed, and those nutrients are added back in at the end via plants- so I've heard- so dogs are one of the few animals that can adapt to a plant based diet! BUT it is very expensive to buy the balanced foods they need, so most people pass. If I adopt my own dog in the future its something I will have to be prepared to try!
I do give my dogs bought vegan treats though, which they go absolutely crazy for!

It's an interesting topic and highly debated.

Have you ever tried feeding eggs back to your hens? That's my plan with my ducks, although I'll give a few away to family members. Occassionslly I've heard people say they actually don't like them-but usually they gobble up a scrambled egg quite happily and it feeds back the nutrients they need.

I feel kinda bad for poultry/waterfowl that have been bred to produce such a high quantity of eggs, it can be exhausting and cause complications- I can't help but worry for my beautiful ducks once they start laying

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

Warm, scrambled eggs are a great treat for any age chicken, I keep spacing that! Thank you for the reminder

Before I finally tried it, I'd always shied away from things labeled "vegan" or "gluten free". (Grocery store code for "flavor..? Hello, flavor?!? Hello..?") Thankfully, assuming that vegan food these days still tasted like the "veggie burgers" from the 90's (salty cardboard), was a mistake! In fact, the Impossible Burger seriously tastes better than the real thing. I've successfully made vegan pumpkin pie, vegan fudge (with avocados!), tasty eggless French toast (the secret is cornstarch), and too many other good things to list here. Any type of diet can be tasty or blah, it's all about how you prepare it. (The spices!!)
Food made with love and care, will always taste better.

Other than a realization that I just don't "like" eating meat (although I don't eat eggs plain, I do bake with my chickens eggs), reasons for my diet include animal cruelty, yes, as well as a building environmental debt we have not yet begun to pay.
Since changing over to a "mostly-veganish" diet (real cheese is my weakness! And my dang pumpkin muffins. Yum), I've felt SO MUCH better!! My weight is ideal now, no more fluctuating, my skin is soft and smooth, my sleep solid, I could go on & on! It's not for everyone, of course.
My Partner eats a veganish diet, with the addition of the occasional ethically raised piece of red-meat. (1-2x per month) His body seems to really need it. My son eats fish. Huh, none of us actually eat eggs outside of baked goods...how funny! I suppose I hadn't really thought about how funny it is that I've got so many chickens, yet don't eat eggs! Heh
Then again, I suppose I don't have a dog for the bounty of hair he provides me with...

Now, I'm curious. What ARE some of the other reasons you all keep chickens?? Other than supplying eggs/meat.
Please share! Their individual personalities are fantastic, and I've never had so much fun as I do now, watching Chicken TV

 

[Henhouse Harlot]

This is true! It takes a lot of time and research to choose vegan alternatives, honestly occassionally I still get cravings for kebabs- ughh- but it gets easier and easier, I rarely think about meat or dairy by this point, I usually just crave home made vegan snacks and meals, it's amazing how stuff so simple can be so delicious! Like roasted seasoned chickpeas or fried beans!!

Dogs are interesting, commercial dog food loses a lot of nutrients whole being processed, and those nutrients are added back in at the end via plants- so I've heard- so dogs are one of the few animals that can adapt to a plant based diet! BUT it is very expensive to buy the balanced foods they need, so most people pass. If I adopt my own dog in the future its something I will have to be prepared to try!
I do give my dogs bought vegan treats though, which they go absolutely crazy for!

It's an interesting topic and highly debated.

Have you ever tried feeding eggs back to your hens? That's my plan with my ducks, although I'll give a few away to family members. Occassionslly I've heard people say they actually don't like them-but usually they gobble up a scrambled egg quite happily and it feeds back the nutrients they need.

I feel kinda bad for poultry/waterfowl that have been bred to produce such a high quantity of eggs, it can be exhausting and cause complications- I can't help but worry for my beautiful ducks once they start laying

Lol! Thank you for sharing that great story! I've had similar successes with the vegan sausage. I guess "vegan" is synonymous with "tasteless" to a lot of folks! More and more I see it becoming accepted though, now I can even get a vegan burger from a fast food joint. They still haven't gotten the bacon right yet..

 

[Ellasroo]

I'm interested! Who here is vegan/vegetarian, and what motivates you to do so?
What do the vegans here do with their flocks and their eggs?

I'll go first! I have been vegan since last year, due to loving animals and hating how they're treated, ESPECIALLY in commercial farms- my two ducks are where my flock journey is just beginning. It actually all started with incubating store bought eggs!
So!
Dougie, and Sprightly! Dougie is 4 days older, and hatched on Christmas day! She was an assisted hatch, incredibly nerve wracking!!
Her sister, Sprightly is a very sweet girl, they both are.
When they begin laying, I will feed most of the eggs back to them. Im not sure of the best way to do this.
I'll share a photo of my beautiful girls, feel free to join the conversation regardless of your beliefs and choices. Please be kind though! And I would LOVE to see photos of your flock!

I'm vegetarian because after raising birds for so many years, and realizing they're just as valuable as dogs to me, I could never kill a bird, dog, or any farm animal. So why pay other people to do the dirty work? It just seemed hypocritical to me and goes against my morals. I eat my flock's eggs because I know where they came from, which is cruelty-free. Also, I can't get rid of all my eggs fast enough, and I'm not a fan of food waste. That's just my personal opinion for my body and lifestyle, no hate to meat-eaters!

 

[BelovedBirds]

Warm, scrambled eggs are a great treat for any age chicken, I keep spacing that! Thank you for the reminder

Before I finally tried it, I'd always shied away from things labeled "vegan" or "gluten free". (Grocery store code for "flavor..? Hello, flavor?!? Hello..?") Thankfully, assuming that vegan food these days still tasted like the "veggie burgers" from the 90's (salty cardboard), was a mistake! In fact, the Impossible Burger seriously tastes better than the real thing. I've successfully made vegan pumpkin pie, vegan fudge (with avocados!), tasty eggless French toast (the secret is cornstarch), and too many other good things to list here. Any type of diet can be tasty or blah, it's all about how you prepare it. (The spices!!)
Food made with love and care, will always taste better.

Other than a realization that I just don't "like" eating meat (although I don't eat eggs plain, I do bake with my chickens eggs), reasons for my diet include animal cruelty, yes, as well as a building environmental debt we have not yet begun to pay.
Since changing over to a "mostly-veganish" diet (real cheese is my weakness! And my dang pumpkin muffins. Yum), I've felt SO MUCH better!! My weight is ideal now, no more fluctuating, my skin is soft and smooth, my sleep solid, I could go on & on! It's not for everyone, of course.
My Partner eats a veganish diet, with the addition of the occasional ethically raised piece of red-meat. (1-2x per month) His body seems to really need it. My son eats fish. Huh, none of us actually eat eggs outside of baked goods...how funny! I suppose I hadn't really thought about how funny it is that I've got so many chickens, yet don't eat eggs! Heh
Then again, I suppose I don't have a dog for the bounty of hair he provides me with...

Now, I'm curious. What ARE some of the other reasons you all keep chickens?? Other than supplying eggs/meat.
Please share! Their individual personalities are fantastic, and I've never had so much fun as I do now, watching Chicken TV

the impossible burger...! I think I've tried that- I didn't like it because it was TOO realistic, felt so weird
I don't keep chickens yet personally, just my lovely ducks-but I plan to have some in the not too distant future- Reason being to just give them the life they deserve! We have a free range chicken egg farm near me, keeps the hens for 6 months, before they go to slaughter they're put up for sale for £1.50-£2.00 each. VERY cheap. I'd love to rescue a few and just spoil them with a nice retirement! My birds will always be for their companionship, rather than for what they can give me

 

[BelovedBirds]

Lol! Thank you for sharing that great story! I've had similar successes with the vegan sausage. I guess "vegan" is synonymous with "tasteless" to a lot of folks! More and more I see it becoming accepted though, now I can even get a vegan burger from a fast food joint. They still haven't gotten the bacon right yet..

Honestly, I LOVE the thisisntbacon brand, it doesnt look or taste much like bacon on its own- but cooked up and on a sandwich it is PERFECT imo! Definitely a step in the right direction (perhaps this is only avilable in the UK, dont know!)