Some extreme vegans have a new strategy to make people quit their animal product habit: they spread gross and false information about what they are eating.
I think this is a horrible and unnecessary way to persuade people, even though I don’t eat much meat or dairy myself. I believe there are much better alternatives than this.
Please, dear vegans, don’t stoop so low!
This idea came to me when I was browsing the internet for some information about eggs and their benefits, as part of my blog research.
I stumbled upon an article that shocked me and motivated me to write this.
The article, clearly written by a vegan, stated boldly that “an egg is nothing but a chicken’s menstrual discharge”, and even provided some scientific arguments to support this claim.
Can you believe that? They said that when a chicken lays eggs, it’s menstruating!
That sounded ridiculous and false to me, but the article had a scientific explanation that seemed to make sense. (or so I thought)
But I still couldn’t accept that I had menstrual blood for breakfast. So I decided to do my own research.
After reading through tedious papers on embryology and avian reproduction, I finally found out the truth. And I’ll be sharing that with you in the course of this article!
Do Chickens Have Periods?
No, eggs are not chicken periods and chickens do not menstruate.
Menstruation is a natural process that only occurs in females of some mammals, such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, bats and elephant shrews.
A chicken is not a mammal. No other animals besides mammals have been found to menstruate.
But of course, this simple statement “Menstruation is exclusive to mammals and chickens do not menstruate” may not be enough to convince you!
So I came up with a simple method that is based on common sense, and I will use it to show you that chickens do not have periods.
For this method, we first need to briefly understand how pregnancy and menstruation work in mammals, and how a chicken can lay eggs.
Then, we will compare chickens and menstruation and see if there is any connection.
How Period And Pregnancy Work In Mammals
Some female mammals, when they reach sexual maturity–a stage in mammalian development called puberty–start a process called the menstrual cycle (in humans) or estrus cycle (in animals).
At the start of this cycle, one or more eggs are released from her ovaries–the part of the reproductive system that makes eggs, and are sent to a place where they can be fertilized (the process that makes eggs into babies).
If the egg or eggs meet a sperm during this time, they will be fertilized and moved to a special place that was prepared while the egg was traveling; to live, get nourished and grow into a baby. This means the mammal is pregnant.
If the egg or eggs do not meet a sperm (which means no sexual activity happened), then the egg is not fertilized and cannot become a baby.
The reproductive system recognizes this as a failed attempt and gets rid of this unfertilized egg and its special place through the reproductive part or by absorbing it, so that a new cycle can start.
In this case, the mammal is having her period.
The whole process (cycle) can last up to a month depending on the mammal.
And it happens again and again until the female mammal reaches menopause; a time in her life when she cannot reproduce naturally anymore.
Now,
Let’s look at how birds reproduce.
How Does A Chicken Lay An Egg?
Similar to menstruating mammals, the formation and release of eggs (yolk) from the ovary in a hen happens regularly and when they become sexually mature. This means that they don’t need sexual activity to make and release eggs (yolk). (We will call the eggs in the ovary yolk from now on)
But unlike mammals, it doesn’t happen in fixed cycles, so it can’t be called a menstrual cycle.
When yolk(s) are made in a chicken’s ovary, they are sent to an oviduct which is like a production line where the egg white, chalaza, and shells are added to it.
The start of the oviduct is the infundibulum; the place where the egg can meet a sperm for fertilization.
After the time is up, the yolk is moved down fertilized or not to the other parts of the oviduct where it becomes a complete egg and then pushed out through the reproductive part (laying eggs)
Now, you can see that with hens, something is different. An unfertilized egg goes through the same reproductive steps as a fertilized egg. That is not what happens in all menstruating mammals. Unfertilized eggs are seen as waste and removed.
The Conclusions From The Above
Fertilized eggs are the key to pregnancy in mammals, while unfertilized eggs are the key to menstruation in mammals.
A chicken laying an egg, on the other hand, can have either a fertilized or an unfertilized egg.
So does that mean a chicken is somewhere between pregnant and menstruating?
Not exactly. A chicken can’t be both hatching chicks and having its period. Mammals don’t do that.
So a chicken laying eggs is either pregnant or menstruating, not both.
Let’s see how we can tell the difference.
Why Do Chickens Lay Eggs: To Hatch Or To Menstruate?
One might think that a chicken lays eggs to hatch them into chicks, but this only makes sense for fertilized eggs, not unfertilized ones.
Likewise, one might think that a chicken lays eggs to get rid of them, like a period, but this only makes sense for unfertilized eggs, not fertilized ones.
So how can we explain why a chicken lays eggs?
A better way to approach this question is to look at what a chicken does after laying a bunch of eggs.
It doesn’t matter if the eggs are fertilized or not, the chicken will sit on them and try to hatch them. It may even become very protective and stop eating, risking its own health.
This shows that a chicken doesn’t know if its eggs are fertilized or not. It just follows its instincts and wants to hatch them.
This also shows that a chicken doesn’t have a way to detect and get rid of unfertilized eggs, unlike mammals that have a menstrual cycle.
If it did, it wouldn’t try to hatch its own period! So we can conclude that chickens do not have periods, they just lay eggs.
Method 2:
First off, I’ll propose two hypothesis,
If we can prove that a hen lays an egg for the same reason that a female mammal has a period, it means that hens have periods and eggs are their period waste.
If also, we can prove that a hen lays an egg for a different reason than a female mammal has a period, it means that hens do not have periods and eggs are not their period waste.
If you agree with this logic, then we can proceed. If not, you can stop here.
So Why Do Periods Occur?
The basic idea is this.
Periods happen because the egg is not fertilized.
The body senses that the egg is not needed and gets rid of it along with the lining of the uterus that was ready to support it.
This clears the way for a new cycle to start and a new lining to form for the next egg.
So the main factors that determine why a period happens are: “unwanted” and “unfertilized”.
A female mammal has a period because she is discarding tissues and an unfertilized egg or eggs that she doesn’t need.
So we will examine why a hen lays an egg and see if it matches this definition.
Why Does A Chicken Lay An Egg?
The main reason why a chicken lays eggs is to reproduce. To make adorable baby chicks.
How do we know?
Because an unfertilized egg in a chicken goes through the same process as a fertilized egg, we can infer this:
“Every egg that a chicken lays is meant to be fertilized”, and guess what? a chicken will naturally sit on its eggs, whether they are fertilized or not, hoping to hatch them into chicks.
And while doing this, it can become very stubborn, refusing to eat and even risking its own health.
This shows that the statement “every egg that a chicken lays is meant to be fertilized” must be true, otherwise, why would a chicken try to hatch its unfertilized eggs?
But if all chicken eggs are meant to be fertilized, yet some end up being unfertilized, what system is there to detect and remove these unfertilized eggs in a chicken’s reproductive system?
I’ll let you think about that.
So since we have established that every egg that a chicken lays is meant to be fertilized, this proves that the first statement about chickens laying eggs for the main purpose of making chicks is true.
Do The Two Why’s Correlate?
Why does Period Occur? To get rid of unfertilized eggs and the lining of the uterus that are not needed in the body, and to prepare the body for the next cycle.
Why Do Chickens Lay Eggs? To hatch them into chicks.
It’s clear that there is no connection between these two reasons.
A chicken’s natural purpose for laying eggs, whether they are fertilized or not, is to potentially make them into healthy chicks, not to dispose of unfertilized eggs that it doesn’t need.
So comparing chickens to periods is completely wrong.
But some people online argue…
“That chickens lay unfertilized eggs and humans release unfertilized eggs during periods, so eggs must be periods”
But this argument ignores why mammals have periods and hens lay eggs, and the fact that hens also lay fertilized eggs.
But let’s say we agree, that when a chicken lays a fertilized egg, it’s reproducing, and when it lays an unfertilized egg, it’s having a period.
This still leaves one question unanswered.
Why does a chicken try to hatch its period?
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Eggs Essentially Chicken Ovaries?
The answer is no. It’s a common misconception, and here’s why it’s incorrect. Chickens’ ovaries are simply the site where the egg yolk is produced.
The entire reproductive system of a hen, including its ovary and oviduct, plays a part in crafting the egg we’re familiar with.
The yolk matures in the ovary before traveling down the oviduct where it gains layers of albumen (egg white) and finally the shell.
Once fully formed, it passes through a shared exit pathway known as the cloaca – used for reproductive, urinary, and digestional purposes – before being laid.
Are The Eggs We Eat Baby Chickens?
Again, it’s a resounding no. The majority of eggs found on supermarket shelves are unfertilized; they do not contain an embryo capable of growing into a chick.
In the event an egg is fertilized, development into a chick only begins when a hen incubates it by sitting on it- something that doesn’t occur in commercial operations. If not incubated within several weeks, any present embryo would perish—so rest assured you’re not eating or harming any prospective chicks.
What Are Eggs Made Of?
So if eggs aren’t baby chickens or chicken ovaries- what exactly are they? At its most basic level, an egg is primarily composed of protein and water with additional nutrients like fats, vitamins and minerals.
The yellow yolk houses about 60% of an egg’s total protein and harbors most of its fat content along with cholesterol and calories.
On the other hand, the glossy egg white holds roughly 40% of the total protein content along with water-soluble vitamins and minerals.
Wrapping up this nutrient-packed package is a durable shell made mostly from calcium carbonate- lending strength to protect potential life inside.
Honestly, I couldn't have said that better than you did. My parents and I raise chicks and we always have to look their eggs to see if they are good to put them to hatch, otherwise many eggs might be unfertilized and baby chicks won't come from them. I always felt guilty and disgusted by them, only because the vegan community make them look so bad, but my grandmother ate like this, she ate pig fat and only animals raised at the country side, and she lived almost 90 years old. Never been to the doctor, never had a medical problem in her life. People these days think that going vegan is going to make you healthy but it is not. I personally went vegan for 5 years and developed chronic gastritis and very bad cramps, weight fluctuation and lack of energy to do anything. I'm not saying vegan diet is bad, but it is NOT FOR EVERYONE. We all have different genetics, different body, different needs. Some veganholics should stop being so harsh on people that eat meat and start focusing on their life and their choices. We don't live forever, and no one is here to tell us what is good and what is bad, only you decide that.
your statements are full of logical fallacies (logicalfallacies.org). i’m not wasting my time going over all these, just making those who read your dribble aware of it. most importantly:
1. there is no “going vegan” or “vegan diet”, it’s a media term / generalization, as you can “be vegan” in many different ways, and even alone when it comes to “vegan diet”, there are many different types ones – ie. “junk food vegan” AKA “lazy vegan”, “raw vegan” ignoring the fact that all(!) successful civilizations thrive on cooked whole carbs, …
The only healthy diet for humans is a “varied, no-added-oil whole-foods plant-based diet”, which peer reviewed science has proven and is also stated to be suitable “for all ages of human life” by the world’s largest (and non-vegan) society of dietitians.
2. “my granny lived almost 90 years and never went to a doc while having eaten meat and eggs, drank dairy milk, …” – that is what is called a personal anecdote, not proof, because it is not scientifically backed up. for once, she was a single person, vs billions of people who get sick, diseased and live and eventually die in agony, because of the same diet. not to mention that your granny, like so many people back then, grew up “sucking it up” and not whining about every little thing, like people do nowadays; and lastly, like so many people back then (and many even nowadays), she could’ve just had an anxiety to deal with doctors and modern medicine. whereas “blue zones” are those where people live in average above the age of 90, even more than 100 years, and still mow their own lawn, some even go water skiing or do other sports at that age – and they do so following a “varied, no-added-oil whole-foods plant-based diet”.
3. the rest of your “argumentation” is just again, dribble, talking about “we all have different genetics and bodies and needs” – actually every single one of your statements are incorrect: all humans have the same general genetics with some variations that define hair, eye, skin (pigmentation) colors, height, various facial and some other bodily details… and that’s about it; it doesn’t mean some are carnivores that are required to consume corpse pieces – we are not (wild) cats or bears. It’s your social programming (media, hear-say) and the human instinct (developed over millions of years before humans developed advanced agriculture and logistics) that makes you believe you have to consume animal corpses and animal secretions.
4. You call “vegans” (or those who are labeled as such, but just follow a “varied, no-added-oil whole-foods plant-based diet”) “veganholics” because they feel cognitive pain being confronted by ignorance and illogical argumentation AKA “outright idiocy”, which would be the same to anyone if someone would use the same type of argumentation for “sexual exploitation / rape, torture and murder of humans is ok” because of “you’re inferior to me” or “it’s approved by the religion i follow / my religion” or “it’s done to animals, so if it’s ok to do that to them, it’s ok to do that to humans”, or any number of other arbitrary pseudo-logical reasoning.
5. that even aside, one could care less about your flawed reasoning and how you make yourself diseased and reduce your life expectancy – if that’s what you aim and goal. even ignoring the ethical impact to those billions of animals that have to suffer every year because of that mindset. what however can not be ignored is the impact this mindset has on ALL OF HUMANITY, which is the destruction of the planet’s various ecosystem, and thus moving toward extinction of humanity (unless successful colonization of mars or other way of extended living in space will happen before then, which is unlikely to happen for technical and growth of world population and other reasons).
6. “we don’t live forever” – this is one of the most last-ditch effort of “logical argumentation” of anti-vegans… ok, so just k!ll yourself then now, why prolong it?
7. “no one is here to tell us what is good and what is bad, only you decide that” – well, obviously most people, such as yourself, aren’t (yet) intelligent enough to make that decision, so that’s why there have to be those who do tell you what to do / not to do.
“The only healthy diet for humans is a “varied, no-added-oil whole-foods plant-based diet”, which peer reviewed science has proven and is also stated to be suitable “for all ages of human life” by the world’s largest (and non-vegan) society of dietitians.”
There are no long lived populations or cultures that have ever consumed this paid for reviewed science. Anyone can write a science report but you can’t fool real centenarians that zero have consumed a no oil plant based diet. Give me the real names of just 5 people out of the 500,000 centenarians living in the world.
If God had wanted us to be Vegan he would have made sure a Vegan diet give us ALL our necessary vitamins, minerals and essential fats and oils. Unfortunately Vegans must take manmade pills as supplements to their diet! Hardly a compelling argument for their diet. I do however sympathize with the view that killing other creatures as food is abhorrent! I would much prefer not too so I limit my intake of meat and fish.
By your logic, consuming meat from farm animals is unnatural, since they ALL also recieve supplements.
All non-ruminant animals recieve B12 supplement such as pigs and chickens because they are unable to produce their own, because only ruminant animals(cows, goats, sheep) are able to make their own B12.
Ruminant animals receive cobalt supplement to be able to produce B12 on their own.
On top of other supplements.
You speak about eating fish, yet farmed fish are the biggest consumer of omega-3 fish oil on the planet. You do know how fish get their omega-3 right? In nature they get them from ALGAE! and since farmed fish aren’t fed algae, they need to be substituted with fish oil.
You know what this means right?
All nutrients come from plants originally.
Vegans just take their nutrients directly from plants or from good quality supplements.
You get your nutrients second hand through filtered througg animals that get cheapest quality supplements. Bon apetit.
It takes a minute to google.
Your are trying to convince yourself that egg is not period of hen but your explanation itself proving it that egg is hens period.
Its natural that all living organisms who can conceive they have period in different way .
100% it’s the same explanation for both sides, you can’t even argue against yourself 🤦🏼♀️
I suppose maybe the unfertilized egg is closer to an amniotic sac, fluid and placenta, if it was expelled later without a fertilised embryo/baby in it.
I would still eat chicken eggs knowing this though. .
Good attempt for sure, but ultimately it’s a fail. Of course we realize it’s not the “exact same” process, but for all intents and purposes, “menstruation” is the best human equivalent to this process in chickens. Also may I point out the premise, implying that “menstruation” is disgusting, is problematic. Women’s bodies are not disgusting. Nature is not disgusting. It is what it is and without it, none of us would be.
Your claims are based on what data? If God wanted us to eat animals, He would have grown them from soil, ready to eat, with seeds to survive digestion and replant into the ground, covered in fertilizer (aka the human digestive and bowel process). I have been a plant based eater most of my 57 years; I do not supplement, other than B-12 (wish is also injected into food-farm animals) and my doctor told me I have the insides of a teenager. I am NEVER sick, full of energy, physically fit, and don’t get headaches or experience nausea…ever. Where did I go wrong????
I’ve eaten animals since i had teeth. so for most of my 58 years. i do no supplement, other than miller. my doctor say im as healthy as a pre teen. I have never been sick a day in my life. EVER. I never had chickenpox, flu, nothing. I have never sneezed in my life. Also what is a head ache. I think you went wrong by going to a doctor that knows that the insides of a teenager look/feel like.
See how stupid this all sounds. Thats how you came off.
You can get all the needed vitamins and minerals from plants, many of the vitamins and minerals vegans are low in so are meat eaters and it’s caused by how the earth our food is grown in has been ruined by pesticides and chemicals.
It does give us everything we need. Just need to educate where to access vitamins and minerals first hand instead of second hand from animal organs.
Hey vegan here. I don't take man-made pills. I'm Perfectly healthy are all those things you listed i DO get on a vegan diet. You really shouldn't bash others just to prove whatever point you were "trying" to make. And God gave us eden a "garden" full of food and animals to "share" it with. Lol animals were not consumed. The only issue I had with this article was that eggs are not for us to eat. And chickens don't suffer by siting on them my friend had chick's and if they didn't hatch then they (the hen) would eat the eggs. I also have a vegan friend that has a chick and her hen will eat her own eggs when she lays them. She doesn't suffer because it's not fertilized. Again humans had to evolve to eat meat. I'm really curious as to what you think vegans can't get on a vegan diet? What vitamins mineral and fats (oils are plant based lol) can we not get exactly. I've done my research and can't find anything. So…. I'm vegan but my husband and my 2 kids aren't. I don't force my ethics on anyone. I agree with the first comment (not the rude tone tho) . No it's not a period but you can use it as an example as long as you aren't flat out saying it's the same cause its not. I personally think it's gross after finding out how they are made and what not. Same reason I'll never eat honey again or dairy.
Spot on
Your teeth are not made for a carnivore diet, your canines are to break fruit and nuts, just like monkeys. Your teeth are frugivorous.
Thank you!!1
Regardless, eggs come out of a chicken’s reproductive part. I suppose you think that’s much better 😂
It isn’t clear logically why you jumped over to animal behaviors and intent. You were doing well by discussing biology but you stopped short of finishing. Follow exactly what products are made, and what gets packed into the egg. Follow what proteins and materials are expelled in mammalian menstruation. I agree, that farmed-raised chickens don’t have cycles, but I think you are conflating menstruation and menstruation cycles. Not all women have regular cycles either. I think the comparison is simply the build-up of products for preparation to support an offspring and the subsequent release of the contents out of the body. In humans, it is due to failure. In chickens, as you pointed out, it doesn’t even have to be fertilized. However, yes, the end result is that both contents are remnants of a failed pregnancy. The biology is complex, but if human eggs were much larger, packed with the materials it needs to grow, and was surrounded by a calcified shell, the distinctions would be nill. Human eggs are just smaller and their initial nutrition comes from the uterus and not from materials contained within a shell. In some ways, you could view chicken eggs as small mobile shelled uteri.
Thank you for clearly describing how this process is even more disgusting than that proposed by vegans who correlate eggs to periods.
The wild ancestor of the domesticated chicken only lays about one egg a month. So that’s one occasion when the chicken expects (rightly or not) to give birth – “getting broody, might not eat and put its health on the line” as you state.
The modern domesticated chicken effectively spends most of her life in this state of broodiness, constantly producing eggs and expending energy, thinking she is about to become a mother. Your description of this permanent state of motherhood, inflicted by humans, is truly chilling and inhumane.
You make total sense but it’s a pretty pedantic response to what is intended simply as a humorous thought while serving someone eggs. You could simplify and say “a period is the excretion of an unfertilised egg” ergo an egg is a chicken period. I’m not sure the universe gains much by thinking of the ways that statement is wrong, even if it’s completely logical.
People arguing about are we supposed to eat animals lol easily put, no. God gave us herbs and seed which bear fruit, thall shalt not eateth of the beasts of the earth. Something like that anyway but you can just compare your human body to that of a carnivore and see how much difference there is 🙂 But check how similar our bodies are to a herbivore
Intestines too long (Like a herbivore)
Stomach acid to weak (Like a herbivore)
Teeth not sharp enough (Like a herbivore)
No claws (Like a herbivore)
We’ve got nothing that says “Catch that animal and eat it”
We go the zoo and say “Awww look how cute that goat is” instead of “Fuck me I’m hungry just looking at that thing”
Meat stays in our system for up to a month because our body cannot handle it
And the fact that we have to cook meat, carnivores will drink the blood for nutrients, we cook it away..
We should just be able to pick up a chicken off the ground and bite into it
And I’m not a vegan, just thought I’d give my 2 cents
All Nutrients that come from animals are from is true, However, that doesn’t mean that we can always convert the nutritional value We are also made of meat meaning if we put meat into our body then our body breaks it down into a useable substance for our body. its like heating up a metal and putting in more metal to shape it into what you need. I really like the comment:
“Vegans just take their nutrients directly from plants or from good quality supplements.”
Good quality supplements? Uh hello? Your talking to the same people that make those “cheapest quality supplements” you where talking about. You’re no better then those animals! But not only do you think that the animals get the cheapest supplements you don’t take the time to realize that if we eat all the plants what’s gonna happen? what the animals that you care for so deeply gonna eat?
In the end just have a balanced meal!
Bon Appetit, My friend
Stupid arguments upon stupid arguments.
1: “We’re made of meat, so we must eat meat to sustain ourselves. Nutrients from meat and plants are different.” Then how do herbivores sustain themselves? The most healthy regions of the world are Blue Zones that eat a primarily plant-based diet with very little meat involved. Considering that veganism is possible and people have healthy lives with it, it’s clear we don’t need to eat meat at all and there are no “special” nutrients in meat needed for us to survive.
2. “We’re no better than animals.” Well, yea, that’s what the ethical philosophy of veganism is all about. You’re no different from an animal, and it’s us forgetting our origins that has lead us to destroy our planet and consume animal flesh just because we can. It’s not a necessity anymore, you do it because you like it.
3. “If we all eat plants then the animals won’t have anything to eat.” How far up your ass did you go to pull this one out? The majority of plant food is created so you can have your precious dead animal flesh on your table. There will be more than enough plant food if we eliminate the majority of our animal consumption, and there would even be enough to end world hunger. No animal is going to starve. But they will from our destruction of the planet for, yet again, your precious dead flesh. Meat is the top #1 cause of our current climate crisis and you actively contribute to it by consuming animals. Congrats.
4: “Eating animal products is a balanced meal.” How? The majority of animal consumers have on average more vitamin deficiency compared to vegans. We’re operating under the assumption that a balanced meal is one that gives all your necessary nutrients, right? You don’t need animal products for that. You can get all your nutrients from plants, you could’ve even gotten b12 if our farming system didn’t destroy the microbiome of the soil.
Thus, what does your argument really hinge upon? You like the taste of rotting carcasses, don’t really care about the welfare of anyone other than yourself, and you’re too lazy and selfish to change. Bon appetit, my friend.
So, using your own article, are you saying that you’re eating unborn fetuses? Because that’s basically what unfertilized eggs are. That sounds even worse than eating a ‘chicken period,’ I really can’t fathom how you find that appetizing. I guess you can enjoy eating your delectable unborn children.
the “god argumentation”… wow, is this the middle-ages???
Btw “oils” from plants is processed fats with almost all nutritional value removed, thus essentially pointless.