Artifical Food colouring in Egg Yolks

Further information pertaining to the UK lion stamp.

The colour of the yolk is dictated by what the hen eats. The Lion Code of Practice bans the use of the colourant canthaxanthin, so natural carotenoid ingredients such as grassmeal, maize, capiscum or marigold products are often used in hens’ feed, which give a deeper coloured yolk. Citranaxanthin - a nature-identical product which occurs naturally in the peel of citrus fruits – may also be used.
 
That's interesting. Whilst my girls do not eat the flowers of the cape daisy, they absolutely love the leaves which could (I'll emphasise could) have a colourant in them causing the deep yellow across all 4 needs of hens I have. It will be interesting to see what my 2 new rescues on Sunday lay.
It you lion up the cape daisy you will see the colour of the flower. That is almost exactly what my girls lay¡
 
That's interesting. Whilst my girls do not eat the flowers of the cape daisy, they absolutely love the leaves which could (I'll emphasise could) have a colourant in them causing the deep yellow across all 4 needs of hens I have. It will be interesting to see what my 2 new rescues on Sunday lay.
It you lion up the cape daisy you will see the colour of the flower. That is almost exactly what my girls lay¡
Blimey! You are getting two more rescue hens? Are you going to be able to eat all these eggs?
Apparently, paprika added to the feed will produce gorgeous deepest golden yolks. It might be interesting to try it... but certainly the flowers they eat will influence the colour.

Now - how can we post a colour test between our various yolks? As you say, white balance can affect the result as can lighting conditions. Is there something which is a common non-variable colour wherever we are that could be placed alongside the egg as comparison?
 
With you shooting it jpeg on a different camera brand (actually are you on your Pentax?) It will be almost impossible to set anything as a comparison. Different manufacturers use different temperatures for their white balance options despite them all having the same names. With you in jpeg, you can't set a specific colour temperature in K that you can do in raw. Short of waiting until you are back on your Pentax, taking one in raw and sending it to me so I can do the pp work on it on my computer I have no ideas unless we all track down the very same brand of A4 white paper and obviously colour... And are able to make a visual deduction in our own minds. Hard one being on opposite sides of the planet now! I do have some white A4 paper that was packed from the UK still though... So it's not as infeasiblee as it sounds that idea
 
Blimey! You are getting two more rescue hens? Are you going to be able to eat all these eggs?
1 of the hens is going back on Saturday. Another went broody full on yesterday, so the male only has 3 to mate with. That is way too low. He really needs 6 minimum. We were getting away with 5 but 4 was a push. Note we are down to 3 he can mate with and 1 sitting on fake wooden eggs that are never going to hatch, the only thing we can do is replace the 2 he can't mate with... And no we won't be able to eat them all, but I think we will get another freezer and I'll shell them, freeze them and when the hens still laying when they molt and through winter...
Also we are taking them for veg with one of my ohs work colleagues.
 
With you shooting it jpeg on a different camera brand (actually are you on your Pentax?) It will be almost impossible to set anything as a comparison. Different manufacturers use different temperatures for their white balance options despite them all having the same names. With you in jpeg, you can't set a specific colour temperature in K that you can do in raw. Short of waiting until you are back on your Pentax, taking one in raw and sending it to me so I can do the pp work on it on my computer I have no ideas unless we all track down the very same brand of A4 white paper and obviously colour... And are able to make a visual deduction in our own minds. Hard one being on opposite sides of the planet now! I do have some white A4 paper that was packed from the UK still though... So it's not as infeasiblee as it sounds that idea

The 2 yolks in the bowl were snapped on the Pentax. I wasn't meaning that we use a common white - but perhaps something else more brightly coloured which is the recognisable the world over. But the more I think about it, the more I think there is no such thing!

Here is what I meant: If we were all in the UK, we could all put a Marmite lid next to the egg. Then we would be able to determine which were the darkest egg-yolks in comparison with the Marmite lid. It would be a relative thing...

I now think that anyone else dropping in on this discussion will think us off our trolleys. Which (of course), I am!
 
Going back where? :eek:
She is going back to where she came from, sort of. In that I got her from a breeder who had her as end of useful life. She would have been put down had she not come to me, and either eaten or.... anyhow she is going to a rooster rescue sanctuary to be a mate for a rooster. This will take her out of the flock circle which she hasn't adapted to sadly and I have tried and tried and tried so many times now. I have her for nearly 8 weeks now and she has spent more than half that time in solitary have controlled access to the flock. It is normal to have a confinement period of about a week where new members to the flock are able to interact with the flock and see the flock but not be part of it. I have then added controlled 'freedom' periods usually at the end of the day (easiest way to catch her) where she can forage with the rest of the flock. Anything over 2 hours and she reverts to her old bad behaviour of attacking the other hens over food or nesting boxes and she also stresses out the other hens to the point where they don't lay the next day. She has been physically dragging the other hens out of the nesting boxes when they try to lay. So unless I keep her locked up until they have all lain eggs (which sometimes can be as late as 4m but with her not around usually isn't) none of them get to lay an egg and all of them get hurt in the process. She has gone vicious broody as is it know, but she has not gone there completely to the broody stage, so I can't give her eggs to sit on and hatch to break the cycle. I can't give her some day old chicks because she will attack them with her not being completely broody and my only other options are to catch her 4 or 5 times a day and hold her in cold water for 5-10 minutes to lower her body temperature to break the broodiness. I would rather she go to the sanctuary we got our rooster from to be a sole mate and a soul mate to a rooster. It will be a better solution for her.
I wasn't meaning that we use a common white
I was.
But the more I think about it, the more I think there is no such thing!
There is such a thing as a common grey, it is called 18% grey and usually it is a printed sheet or shield that you purchase which is a standard grey across the world used to as a while balance. In the programming of the camera (somewhere) you can tell it what you are photoing in this light is this standard grey and it will set up the correct white balance at that moment in time for you. Of course if the sun then goes behind a cloud, your white balance needs redoing, but if you were here to day with now a cloud in the sky... sadly I don't have mine anymore and I suspect you won't have one, not appearing possibly to know about it. I, err don't have access to a Marmite jar, hence going for a sheet of A4 white paper!
 
I found this a little strange on Monday. This egg which accompanied my curry was from the same batch as the previous poached ones and hard boiled the same day. The yolk is much less orange than when the eggs are poached.

bangla nov os egg.jpg
 
Are you sure that it wasn't just an odd slightly paler yolked egg? I can't see any difference which ever way I cook mine. For comparison, a HB Black Farmer egg.This one was marinated in turmeric, hence yellow exterior.

IMGP1424.jpg

And fried:
DSCF2921.jpg
 
sadly I don't have mine anymore and I suspect you won't have one, not appearing possibly to know about it.
Sorry - I lost the plot here...what is it I don't have or know about?!

I suggested a marmite lid because its a standard yellow - so even if the colours vary in our photos, it would be easy to see which yolk was the most golden in relation to the yellow lid in the photo.
 
Are you sure that it wasn't just an odd slightly paler yolked egg?

Maybe it was a "one off". I boiled 4 at the same time and 3 are still in the fridge (not shelled) so I'll check when my wife eats the others.
 
Sorry - I lost the plot here...what is it I don't have or know about?!

I suggested a marmite lid because its a standard yellow - so even if the colours vary in our photos, it would be easy to see which yolk was the most golden in relation to the yellow lid in the photo.
The 18% grey card or mat.
I don't have access to Marmite lids
 
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