i bought my 1st Bantam Rooster a few weeks aago ive had him for probly a Month or close to a Month now. but i put a plastic divider Fence up in the middle of my Run my 10 Hens on 1 side & my New little Bantam Rooster on the other, ive tryd to put 1 of my nice Docile Hens in with him on his side of the Fence, he gets kinda nervous & skidish when she gets close to him then eventully she gets moody & mean pecks at him a chases him alittle, my 10 Hens kn ow they are Biger then Him & there not afraid of him they know theres 10 Hens against 1 little Bantam Rooster, & he wont stand up for himself he wont fight back at the Hens cuz he knows hes little compared to them, is there any ideas or tips or tricks to were all 11 could get along?
I don't think your hens are thinking about functioning as a gang or the fact that they're bigger than him. Chances are, if they've never seen a rooster before, they're just thinking he's a juvenile who acts strange. Hens who have never seen roosters before can have no understanding of how to deal with them; they often mistake them for other hens, hence the conflict.
Sounds to me like he's a juvenile, if he's afraid of the hens; or perhaps he has never seen their type before?
Large breeds of hens, particularly layer types, can look like males to other breeds due to their large combs and wattles and often more confrontational behavior.
My smallest hens and roosters have always been dominant over the bigger ones, and neither of them relied on a gang to take alpha status, and neither of them were afraid to take on much larger birds solo. Instinct, health and intelligence levels determine alpha status more than size or strength ever do. You get a few types of alphas... Those who are dominant because they're the equivalent of psychopaths, so mentally normal chooks don't want to risk their lives to depose the dictators, and those who are dominant because they are simply best for the role and the other chickens naturally want to follow and obey them.
You naturally get an alpha hen and an alpha rooster. You don't naturally have conflict between males and females over alpha spot because their roles are complimentary. They compete with their own gender for alpha status, not the other gender. No hen in her right mind is going to try to be alpha rooster and no rooster in his right mind is going to try to be alpha hen. But, many domestics lack instinct, and you do get inter-gender conflicts. Doesn't mean it's healthy nor ideal nor even normal.
Chances are very strong that your hens lack instinct, especially if they're hatchery-bred layer types; sometimes they will experience return of instincts with long term exposure to the right stimuli (i.e. presence of a rooster, ability to freerange or brood, depends what type of lost instincts we're talking about)... But some will never accept a rooster. There's a chance some of your hens won't ever accept him.
Chances are he's not fighting back not because he knows he's little, but because he knows he's not supposed to stand up to adult hens, if he's a juvenile; chickens rarely seem to understand their size, much like dogs, tiny breeds tend to act like they're full sized. Juveniles of both genders are automatically subordinate to adults of either gender.
If he's an adult and he's running from them, chances are it's because he's not used to their breed and possibly thinks they're roosters. I have some questions:
How old is he?
How old are they?
What sort of hens are they?
Best wishes.
