If my chickens are only in the tractor during the day, should i put nest boxes in there? Do they lay during the day? I'm having a feeling that this will strike people as a really stupid question.
No, not a stupid question at all. Yes, they do lay during the day. In fact, it's typical. Once in a while a hen will get "caught short" and lay while she's on the roost at night, but this doesn't happen often. I use portable plastic lidded bins and a covered kitty litter box for nestboxes. I just pop one of these into the day tractor with the hens so they can lay there when they need to.
Mine sleep in the tractor coop at night and free range during the day. They go back to the coop to lay, usually between 7 am and noon. As long as they have a box somewhere to lay and they can learn where it is, they will use it. You will see buckets, rubbermaid bins, cardboard boxes, etc used for nest boxes. I even used a hanging planter on the ground for a nesting box. There are no stupid questions here. (Well, no one will tell you that, anyway!) This place is about collective knowledge and spreading it around. Someone else called it "Chicken University."
