There are plenty of cruelty free sources for eggs. Go with a reputable free range grower or if you live in the countryside or even suburbs, there are usually neighbors that sell their excess eggs.

I would strongly disagree that any commercial operation - regardless of its labeling - could be called cruelty free. That leaves neighbors with backyard hens, which will never be enough cover any significant portion of egg consumption.

I mean, if you want cruelty free eggs you can just raise chickens.

That’s something you can start working on now to meet 100% of your egg needs.

> I mean, if you want cruelty free eggs you can just raise chickens.

Raising hens still means that someone somewhere is hatching eggs and throwing out the rooster chicks, probably grinding them into chicken meal.

The usual definition of "cruelty free" does not necessarily mean nothing is killed. Many consider humane methods of killing (culling) to be cruelty free.

I don't. And "just raise your own" is obviously not a viable option for the overwhelming majority of people.

Not sure if the other tenants in my downtown condo high rise will appreciate that. I'll probably get a visit from the Supe

Unless you're raising the hens as well it can still be cruel.

Sometimes, that hen turns out to be a rooster. Fertilized eggs are not as desirable, and that damn rooster crows too often

But we aren't talking about covering a significant portion of egg consumption. Only the portion of egg consumption from people who don't want cruelty free eggs.

There aren't enough pasture chickens (not "free range" which is a lie) for everyone to be fed from them.

Pasture-raised isn't as cruelty-free as one might like. Big free range chicken farms have eagle problems: https://www.audubon.org/magazine/fall-2016/an-organic-chicke...

If you're a chicken, do you want to live forever in a cage, or be eaten alive by a bigger bird? Neither of those choices sound great to me.

Being eventually eaten by a predator is fairly probable part of any birds life.

So you prefer to deny this chicken the chance to live any life because you can't make it perfect?

You want to distance yourself so far from cruelty that you don't want to let anything live until you are able to provide better conditions than any mythical god could? ;-)

Around me, I see plenty of free-roaming chickens. The big problem is raccoons, you just need to make sure the chickens are put up at night and they usually make it.

This level of purity regarding cruelty avoidance seems to have logical gaps, e.g. what about the suffering of eagles? (Or other predators)

As someone who raises chickens, with no cruelty, I'm surprised to hear it's not already an option.

Maybe you should look for another source.

Unfortunately, not everybody can afford to raise their own chickens.

E.g. IIRC, raising of any chicken/duck/goose/pigeon on land that is not zoned for agriculture has been outlawed in Hong Kong, due to concerns about spreading diseases, especially avian flu.

Plus, most people live in tiny homes with no garden and maybe even no balcony.

I don't know what the answer is - is it less cruel to let a chicken lay eggs for a long time yet remain alive, or raise a calf into a cow, then kill it for its meat?

Is it any less cruel for the small fish to eat the plant, and then the medium fish eat the little fish?