You're totally welcome! That's what BYC is all about, sharing ideas! The hardware cloth idea isn't mine. It's a classic "look-don't-touch" set-up. It doesn't work for actual quarantine, because illness issues can still get through, but I have a big rabbit hutch for that. The Bachelor Pad is great for the last step of integration. It also works great as a broody pen. By the time the youngsters are ready to go into the main area, they're no longer a novelty, so most of the adults leave them alone.Thank you for sharing!
I'd read (online, so taken with a big grain of salt) that a bachelor coop can't accept newcomers, i.e., grown male chickens will never, ever accept new male roommates they didn't grow up with. AND that bachelors can't peacefully co-exist if there are hens anywhere nearby. But it sounds like your boys live directly next door to the girls?
That's interesting how acclimating through the hardware cloth smoothed the guys' transition to the bachelor pad (unless Nankins are just total teddy bears and would find any reason to get along).
And Nannies aren't total teddy bears, they're just really mellow. I can honestly say that, out of several hundred birds over the past ten years, I've only had one with behavior issues - and he has since settled down considerably. I know I'm dating myself, but the little stinker has earned himself a new moniker. He's little, flashy, sassy, feisty, a singer and a ladies man. He's Sammy Davis, Jr.
