Basics
Are eggs from “happy hens” vegan?
Short answer
No. An egg is a hen’s product, whether the cage is cramped or the bird ranges a backyard. Welfare matters — it does not change the vegan definition.
Even in “free-range” systems, laying hens are usually slaughtered at about 18 months when laying drops – a hen can naturally live several years. Male chicks from laying breeds do not lay eggs, so most hatcheries kill them shortly after hatching. Some EU countries (for example Germany) have banned this and sex the embryo in the egg instead, but it is still animal production.
Eggs from a rescued backyard hen do not harm that one bird at the moment the shell is collected. They are still an animal product, and veganism drops them because baking and cooking work without eggs. Someone who eats them is not “lying” — they are simply not vegan.