Nesting Box Questions

[Chick CJ]

I am building a new coop and working on the design for the nest boxes. I plan to build two rows of boxes with 5 on top and 5 on the bottom. In looking at coop pictures I see some people have a bar that runs across the front of their top row of nest boxes for the hens to jump up on. Can anyone tell me if the hens end up using this for a roost? My top boxes will be approximately 4 feet off the ground with a 3 1/2" lip across the front to hold in the nesting material. Do they need something to "land" on? Any ideas?
CJ

 

[AlabamaSweetpea]

I wondered about the same thing, but I didn't think there's enough room to roost and the rail wouldn't be as high as a roost

 

[Chick CJ]

I had one of those prefab metal nesting boxes and my husband put it together for me and now I see the wooden bars on the front are both for hopping up onto to get into the boxes as well as for closing off the boxes (they sit on a frame that let's you lift the whole thing to sit in front of the boxes) when the day is done! It's kind of cool and although I didn't think I cared for the galvanized metal, now that it is together and sitting in place, I like it!
CJ