 For the 4-H Golden Egg Contest, three eggs from your dozen will be selected randomly to be open and measured for interior quality. The individual eggs will be weighed. The scale should measure the weight in grams. You can do this at home with a digital scale or a simple kitchen scale that weighs in grams. The weight will be recorded on the score sheet. The egg is tapped gently on a flat surface and broken into a flat bottom container. Pie plates work best because they are easy to clean. Allow the egg to settle into position before measuring. The height of the albumin, or egg white, is measured using a tripod micrometer. The probe is centered halfway between the yolk and the edge of the thick albumin. The probe is slowly lowered until it barely touches the albumin. As you can see, the albumin appears to jump up and touch the probe. The reading on the micrometer is recorded and used to calculate the high unit. A high unit calculator determines the interior quality score as well as the USDA grade. The weight of the individual egg is used to set the scale. Using the height of the albumin, the score and grade are determined. The high unit and the USDA grade are recorded on the score sheet. Grade AA is the highest, followed by grades A and B. The high unit scores are recorded and points assigned. 20 points are awarded for high units at or above 72, which is grade AA. 10 points are awarded for high units ranging from a high of 71 down to 60, which is grade A. 5 points are awarded for grade B eggs, which have high units of 59 or less. The scores for the three eggs are totaled. Eggs are examined for the presence of blood spots or meat spots. Points are deducted for each egg that contains these defects. Eggs with small spots lose 5 points, while those with large spots lose 10 points. Finally, the yolk color is scored. Based on a hen's diet, yolk colors will change. Scoring is done using a specialized piece of equipment. This is a yolk color fan, and each shade is assigned a number. Originally produced by the Roche Company, several companies now manufacture yolk color fans. However, the yolk score is still often referred to as the Roche score. To achieve a higher number or Roche score, you can feed fresh greens or marigold petals to your flock. The fan is opened and placed over the yolk. The observer chooses the blade, best matching the color of the yolk, and records the number on the score sheet. The score for all three randomly selected eggs are written on the score sheet. The three scores for the yolk color are averaged, and that average is placed in the score column. The total for the interior grading, including the deductions for any blood or meat spots, will be calculated.