eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

A discussion on all aspects of Theravāda Buddhism
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No_Mind
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by No_Mind »

James Tan wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:41 am
How to determine fertilized or unfertilized ?
I can tell about my country .. eggs we normally buy from large scale poultry farms are unfertilized (hens do not need a rooster to lay an egg; they do so almost daily on their own.)

Image

Eggs that local farmers bring to the market (about 1.5 x price) are fertliized (but maybe unfertilized too and passed off as fertilized). You can tell fertilized chicken eggs apart from unfertilized ones by candling eggs (with cell phone flash or LED torch)

It is not unknown to buy a fertilized egg in morning and have a chick hatch out of it in afternoon and wander around the pantry .. (given right conditions of course)

This is an unfertilized egg

Image

This is a fertilized egg

Image

Google "candling eggs to tell if they are fertilized" (without quotes)

:namaste:
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Sam Vara
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by Sam Vara »

Worth noting here that even if an egg is fertilised (i.e. has the "blood spot" or tiny embryo developing) it does not mean that it is hatchable, especially where production and distribution techniques involve refrigeration. After about a week, the chances of a fertilised egg being viable decline rapidly, and even optimal incubation conditions won't help.
chownah
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by chownah »

A fried egg is not hatchable so I guess eating them is not killing.
chownah
thepea
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by thepea »

James Tan wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:19 am
Any sutta to support ?
I’m assuming by hatchable you mean a living being living inside.
Eating this would probably involve killing the being in the egg.
Anyway you do what you like if while meditating your mind cannot concentrate because of guilt then you have your answer.
chownah
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by chownah »

thepea wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:41 pm
James Tan wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 6:19 am
Any sutta to support ?
I’m assuming by hatchable you mean a living being living inside.
Eating this would probably involve killing the being in the egg.
Anyway you do what you like if while meditating your mind cannot concentrate because of guilt then you have your answer.
Seems like cooking the egg would involve killing the being in the egg.....eating the cooked egg would involve eating the body left over after that being reincarnated I guess.
chownah
thepea
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by thepea »

chownah wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:35 pm
I’m assuming by hatchable you mean a living being living inside.
Eating this would probably involve killing the being in the egg.
Anyway you do what you like if while meditating your mind cannot concentrate because of guilt then you have your answer.
Seems like cooking the egg would involve killing the being in the egg.....eating the cooked egg would involve eating the body left over after that being reincarnated I guess.
chownah
[/quote]
Absolutely, I’m assuming we’re talking about harvesting the egg, cooking the egg and eating the egg.
chownah
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by chownah »

thepea wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:51 pm
chownah wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 1:35 pm
Seems like cooking the egg would involve killing the being in the egg.....eating the cooked egg would involve eating the body left over after that being reincarnated I guess.
chownah
Absolutely, I’m assuming we’re talking about harvesting the egg, cooking the egg and eating the egg.
I'm wondering why you would assume that since I think it is very seldom that anyone who posts here actually harvests, cooks, and eats an egg. Let's see how often this happens:

People,
Is there anyone here who regularly harvests, cooks, and then eats eggs?
chownah
p.s. There are some people who live in my village who do this regularly. I live in a rural area of thailand....but even here most people do not harvest, cook, and then eat eggs.
chownah
thepea
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by thepea »

chownah wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 2:29 pm I'm wondering why you would assume that since I think it is very seldom that anyone who posts here actually harvests, cooks, and eats an egg. Let's see how often this happens:

People,
Is there anyone here who regularly harvests, cooks, and then eats eggs?
chownah
p.s. There are some people who live in my village who do this regularly. I live in a rural area of thailand....but even here most people do not harvest, cook, and then eat eggs.
chownah
We buy our eggs refrigerated, they are not hatchable.
That’s why I’m assuming folks would be harvesting fresh laid eggs, and this is their concern.
perkele
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by perkele »

thepea wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:06 pm We buy our eggs refrigerated, they are not hatchable.
That’s why I’m assuming folks would be harvesting fresh laid eggs, and this is their concern.
And those eggs would need to be fertilized as well. Domesticated chickens lay many eggs no matter whether they have been fertilized or not. If you have only female chickens with no rooster around, no chicks will find rebirth in those eggs, thus no killing if you harvest and cook them.
thepea
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by thepea »

perkele wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:21 pm
thepea wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:06 pm We buy our eggs refrigerated, they are not hatchable.
That’s why I’m assuming folks would be harvesting fresh laid eggs, and this is their concern.
And those eggs would need to be fertilized as well. Domesticated chickens lay many eggs no matter whether they have been fertilized or not. If you have only female chickens with no rooster around, no chicks will find rebirth in those eggs, thus no killing if you harvest and cook them.
Ok then they must be fertilized in order to be hatchable,
Doesn’t change my point.
chownah
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by chownah »

thepea wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 3:06 pm
chownah wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 2:29 pm I'm wondering why you would assume that since I think it is very seldom that anyone who posts here actually harvests, cooks, and eats an egg. Let's see how often this happens:

People,
Is there anyone here who regularly harvests, cooks, and then eats eggs?
chownah
p.s. There are some people who live in my village who do this regularly. I live in a rural area of thailand....but even here most people do not harvest, cook, and then eat eggs.
chownah
We buy our eggs refrigerated, they are not hatchable.
That’s why I’m assuming folks would be harvesting fresh laid eggs, and this is their concern.
OK. That makes sense. So, once again:

People,
Is there anyone here who harvests fresh laid eggs, and then cooks and eats them?
chownah
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Virgo
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by Virgo »

Edit: I was wrong about the blood spots, they do not mean the egg was fertilized and apparently a fertilized egg won't necessarily have one.

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perkele
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Re: eating hatchable eggs constitute killing ?

Post by perkele »

chownah wrote: Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:42 am People,
Is there anyone here who harvests fresh laid eggs, and then cooks and eats them?
chownah
Usually, one of my roommates harvests them.
Sometimes I may cook and eat some of them.
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