I went vegan for a bit for much the same reason. In all seriousness, good for you, taking responsibility for your footprint and the consequences of your dietary decisions.
More recently I’ve started keeping chickens and ducks (predominantly for eggs, inevitably one day for meat), and it’s given me additional insight into how animal agriculture can be done more responsibly and how we can integrate it into our communities and to enrich our land.
I think it’s great to foster awareness and agency in our food system. If being vegan works for you, I think it’s wonderful. If being vegetarian works for you, also great. I remember the first time someone self-righteously told me they are vegetarian and only eat eggs, and I asked them what they think happens to the roosters since they’re still born at a roughly 1:1 ratio. Introspection occurred. And if someone still Insists that eating tons of factory-raised meat is the only way, well then maybe they aren’t ready to think about it yet but hopefully I can plant a seed that will germinate later.
Yeah, I actually got ducks for eggs soon after I purchased my house. But after getting the little dudes (in the mail) and watching them grow into full sized birds— I was reading and learning as much as I possibly could about how to best care for them. But this sort of research leads you down the path of agriculture literature. And the more I learned, the more it disgusted me. So my birds are full-time pets. I don’t eat their eggs, and I’ve tried to cook them and feed them back to the hens, but they don’t eat them. So now I just give the eggs away to my friends/family so they don’t have to purchase eggs. My logic is that doing this reduces the overall demand for factory farmed eggs.
(I have 4 hens and one drake. They are the most spoiled ducks to walk this earth.)
Oh for sure. But they’ve pretty much dictated the development of my yard since.
1600gal pond with massive up flow filtration.
10x8 custom coop with pond integrated to previously mentioned pond
Home automation routines to protect and secure the flock and make it easy for friends to care for them while I travel.
But if it rains heavily, ducks will find mud. And they will DRILL! Leaving a massive muddy pit. Luckily I love those dumb birds, and don’t mind the mud.
I went vegan for a bit for much the same reason. In all seriousness, good for you, taking responsibility for your footprint and the consequences of your dietary decisions.
More recently I’ve started keeping chickens and ducks (predominantly for eggs, inevitably one day for meat), and it’s given me additional insight into how animal agriculture can be done more responsibly and how we can integrate it into our communities and to enrich our land.
I think it’s great to foster awareness and agency in our food system. If being vegan works for you, I think it’s wonderful. If being vegetarian works for you, also great. I remember the first time someone self-righteously told me they are vegetarian and only eat eggs, and I asked them what they think happens to the roosters since they’re still born at a roughly 1:1 ratio. Introspection occurred. And if someone still Insists that eating tons of factory-raised meat is the only way, well then maybe they aren’t ready to think about it yet but hopefully I can plant a seed that will germinate later.
Yeah, I actually got ducks for eggs soon after I purchased my house. But after getting the little dudes (in the mail) and watching them grow into full sized birds— I was reading and learning as much as I possibly could about how to best care for them. But this sort of research leads you down the path of agriculture literature. And the more I learned, the more it disgusted me. So my birds are full-time pets. I don’t eat their eggs, and I’ve tried to cook them and feed them back to the hens, but they don’t eat them. So now I just give the eggs away to my friends/family so they don’t have to purchase eggs. My logic is that doing this reduces the overall demand for factory farmed eggs.
(I have 4 hens and one drake. They are the most spoiled ducks to walk this earth.)
Ducks are the best! But try to tell me they aren’t also the messiest creatures to walk the earth.
Oh for sure. But they’ve pretty much dictated the development of my yard since.
1600gal pond with massive up flow filtration. 10x8 custom coop with pond integrated to previously mentioned pond Home automation routines to protect and secure the flock and make it easy for friends to care for them while I travel.
But if it rains heavily, ducks will find mud. And they will DRILL! Leaving a massive muddy pit. Luckily I love those dumb birds, and don’t mind the mud.