Am I a vegan or very strict vegetarian?

Often when people become vegan, they're fanatical about it. We have to look at the bigger picture, and that is

a.) Promoting a dietary lifestyle that suits your species (in our case, homo sapiens)
b.) Promoting an end to animal abuse

Now, in the first case, because humans are predominantly herbivores (with the survival advantage of being able to digest small amounts of animal product in desperate situations), eliminating the obvious food groups such as meat, diary and other secretions is necessary. However, when vegans say things like "I don't eat honey", I get really confused. Honey is essentially nectar (yeah, a plant) that is chewed in the mouths of bees, and regurgitated back out. So you're really just eating food from a bee's mouth - and in retrospect, I'm sure you've all done much "worse" with your gf/bf.

In terms of promoting an end to animal abuse, it is true that most utility products made from animal remains came from an unethical industry. However, referring back to the bee business, it is important to remember that firstly, bees are often not mistreated, simply because it is physically very unproductive to deliberately mistreat individual bees, and secondly, being an insect, bees do not actually have pain receptors. Another example is wool. If you personally own a sheep, and it is treated well, and you routinely sheer the sheep (this is a necessary and healthy procedure by the way), and just happen to use this wool for something else, then I don't see a problem with it.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents. The important thing to work towards is a perfect diet and to stop actual animal abuse. There is really no need to be fanatical about being vegan.

I am in your boat. The correct 'label' is 'ovo-vegetarian'.

Though I had 2 of my chickens pass away recently, which kinda devestated me. One became egg bound and the other seemed to die of a broken heart  

Mum reckons the breed of chook is pretty much bred to lay a shit load of massive eggs, in a short amount of time and then pretty much cark it. I tried to help her out, by trying to wash the broken egg out from inside (not a pleasent experience for either of us) but she still didn't make it.

I'm pretty much grossed out by chook eggs now. Though I occasionally eat my ducks eggs 'in' things.

Basically, my point is that, even though she had a pretty good, short life with us (she was about 3), she ended up suffering, because of the way people have bred chooks, to be egg producing, disposable machines.

If you are planning on getting chickens, get ex-battery hens (even though they are the same breed) so that you give them some time living a nice life. Or try to buy breeds that aren't 'bred' for a particular purpose.

I miss my little chookies. They were sooo nice. I hope they are in chooky heaven.

Eating eggs is not vegan.
However I don't really see an issue with people eating eggs from their own chickens (if you're happy with eating the menstrual waste of an animal), it's still not vegan, it's a form of vegetarian. Either way, what you're doing is great.

I am exactly the same as you. I regard myself as vegan when I am out for dinner or with friends who do not know me well (it saves confusion, and in a restaurant, why bother explaining to a chef, you know that you wont eat the eggs at the restaurant even if they are "free range") but other than that, I like to call myself an ethical vegetarian who doesn't eat dairy.

I admire strict, ethical vegans and have up most respect for their dedication, and I do understand that it is the PRINCIPLE that vegans promote- that we do not need animal products to live happy and healthy lives. But the eggs that I eat are eggs that I know come from happy chickens, as do you, and for such reasons, I do not deem it as cruel. Think of it like this- if somebody who claims to be a strict vegan consumes a product containing palm oil that they KNOW is not from a sustainable source, yet they feel that it is ethical because it doesn't contain animal products as such, does this make being a vegan necessarily ethical? No. Or a vegan who consumes vegan chocolate with cocoa that they know has been sourced unethically with child slavery? In my opinion, this type of vegan does not constitute an ethical eater. I think we need to consider ethics sometimes before we get hung up on labels.