Strange Rooster Behaviour??

[moonyah]

Apologies in advance if I have posted in the wrong place...
I have recently introduced a big handsome naked neck boy to my flock of happy hens. Some of his behaviour has me quite intrigued though...
He is reportedly about 9 months old, he clucks but he doesn't yet crow. He insists on sitting in a nesting box most of the time and when he does come out he runs around and around in circles flapping his wings and running into things. The girls peck at him and he generally seems terrified of them! His poor little naked neck is looking pretty sad! I've heard the term 'henpecked' before but I was kind of expecting him to be the patriarch!
He has been with us for around one month now. There is plenty of room, high perches and hiding spots in the pen.
Any advice warmly welcomed

 

[Spiderduck]

Aww,
sounds to me he is getting used to the area and the girls.
My boy used to sit in a nesting box and I thought he was insane, turns out he was just sitting there, showing the girls how to sit maybe?
running around in rings? Maybe he is scared.
I would isolate the little guy but i would have him in the same space as the hens. For exmaple, put him in a fenced off area but he and the girls can still see each other. He might get used to them over time.
The girls may also not want a rooster.
My girls used to love one boy and not the other.

So I would say he is getting used to it unless there is something else going on...

 

[Spiderduck]

Can I just say how beautiful he is!!!!!
I want one!
My girls would probably do the same to him. He could be shy, boys need to be tough sounds to me he is a baby scared. aww.

 

[Pork Pie]

It's likely he has yet to mature to a stage where he is considered a cockbird worthy of respect by your girls. At the moment, they are treating him like a new pullet. He may take some time to win their faith in him - in the meantime, he's being taught some good manners by your girls.

 

[aart]

It's likely he has yet to mature to a stage where he is considered a cockbird worthy of respect by your girls. At the moment, they are treating him like a new pullet. He may take some time to win their faith in him - in the meantime, he's being taught some good manners by your girls.

Ditto Dat^^^
Just give him time.

 

[azygous]

It helps to understand things from this cockerel's point of view. His behavior is entirely natural and predictable.

He's young, inexperienced, and new. He's been thrust into a new environment where he isn't familiar with his surroundings or the hens in it. He's shy and hesitant. He has a physical feature (his bare neck) that is a target for the hens to focus on. More than anything, they are curious about that neck and it's why they're pecking it. Not much you can do about that this side of camouflaging the pink skin with Blu-kote. Maybe the hens will get used to his appearance and will lose interest in his naked neck in time.

He's also confused. He's experiencing a surge of hormones and the hens are exciting to him at the same time he's frightened of them. An option would be to protect him during this integration period by giving him a small safe pen adjacent to the one the girls are in while letting him out to roost with the hens at night.

This will give all of them time to adjust and get acquainted while preserving this young cockerel's self confidence.