People tend to adopt a vegan lifestyle for a combination of two reasons: healthier diets and a love for animals. Most of us are familiar with the atrocities that cows and chickens go through when they are being farmed for mass production of their milk and eggs. What if the animals were treated better though, then would it be okay to make those things a part of your diet? The definition of vegan is someone who only eats plant products and does not eat or use anything that comes from an animal. While the definition is very clear, your feelings on the subject might not be.

You can have a cows and chickens that you treat like royalty. This doesn’t mean that having them for the purpose of their products is okay. Most hens come from breeders who are connected to the egg industry. Purchasing chickens from them is helping to support the very farms whose actions you are morally against. In fact, if you are treating your chickens well they won’t produce enough eggs for it to be worth changing your diet. In nature a chicken will stop laying eggs once they have a nest full of them. By removing the eggs every time they are laid, the chicken will continue producing them. This is very stressful on the chicken and reduces its life expectancy and quality of life.

The same goes for cows. Cows only produce milk to feed their offsprings, and they only produce enough milk that is needed to properly feed a calf. In order for you to have a constant supply of milk you will need to deny milk to the calk and make sure that your cow is always having babies. Again, this is stressful to the cow. Especially if they are separated from their babies too soon.

Opening your home and heart to farm animals that have been saved from cruel conditions is an amazing thing to do if you have the time, money and space. Those animals should always be allowed to live as natural a life as possible and should never be used for our gain or benefit.