Various Questions

[mystang89]

I have a few questions which I have looked up but either found no answer or not found a sufficient answer, so here goes.

1.) Is there any way to found out which hen is laying eggs other than standing at the chicken coop all day?
2.) If I throw grit onto the ground will the chickens eat it or just ignore it?
3.) Would it be better if I mixed the grit with their food?
4.) If I do mix their grit what ratio should I mix it with their food or does it matter?
5.) How much scratch should I throw to them a day? I generally take a handful out in the morning and throw it around and maybe a handful sometime during the day.
6.) Do the hens normally lay eggs normally around the same time?
7.) How do you put DE or other lice/mite preventatives on the chickens without them squawking and flapping all over the place? I have 5 Bantam leghorns and they aren't big fans of touching.
8.) How do you inspect hens for lice/mites etc? Will a visual inspection do or do I have to ruffle their feathers around and look at their skin?

Sorry for the list of questions, they've been building up and I never get time to write them down. Thank you in advance.

 

[HEChicken]

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[mystang89]

Thanks kindly for the reply. I'll keep doing what I'm doing with the grit then and just throw it out by hand in their run.
I did think of another question however.
My chicken coop is raise off the ground by cinder blocks and I watch my chickens go under there all the time. I figured it was to keep cool during this weather but are they also using that as their dust bath? Should I make a place outside the underneath of the chicken coop as their dust bath or is that an ok spot?

 

[HEChicken]

It could be a bit of both that they are going under the coop, as well as that it feels like a safe place to hang out. You probably don't need to do anything different.

 

[mystang89]

Awesome, thanks so much.