Grits are bought in any farm and poultry supply store, the grit is then mixed with the chicken feed that aids digestion. Normally, healthy foraging chickens will swallow small pebbles. They know what to select and what is good for them. However if the chicken is not let out of the coop for long periods, they miss this digestion aids. When additional chickens are needed the best way is to quarantine first the new flock in a separate cage for two weeks and examining and treating them for possible infections before being introduced to the main chicken house. Poor sanitation breeds different kinds of bacteria that the chicken is susceptible. First though, a good chicken nest box must be planned to get the chicken lay eggs in manners that are most productive. The basics are the same. You build a box, put in some straw or wood shavings and when the time comes so too the eggs. But when there is low egg production chances are something must be done to improve the nest box. Chickens are naturally evasive to contact from those that it is not familiar with, even unfamiliar human scent. Except for scheduled management and maintenance, the supply of water and feed must not be interrupted. Even when the chicken can do with yesterday's water, the water supply nonetheless should be as clean and uncontaminated as possible. There is not much study to support this but the fact is man will only be preyed upon when a predator is starving and there is nothing else available, when a predator is sick and is unable to hunt or is very old that their movement and ability has been limited, when the animal is threatened with its back to the wall and escape routes are closed and sometimes when a man is mistaken for another identity. When it comes to breeds, the leghorns start the earliest in laying eggs, which usually takes approximately 5 months, while the bantams and silkies start in about 8 months. Using this knowledge will help you prepare accordingly before the eggs start pouring in. Take note that hens that have just started to lay eggs do so in haphazard fashion, but will soon start to get their normal rhythm as the days go by.