Cockerel feather plucking

[AstraChick]

i have a bit of a dilemma, i have 9, 5 week old, pure Australorps, regular size.
its is looking like 5 boys and 4 girls, may even be 6 boys and 3 girls.

My problem is one of the boys is feather pecking everyone to the extent of blood, i have removed him to his own cage. As i watched him all the others are scared of him and i tried the tapping on his back to stop it, but it didn't work. Everyone has healed-up now.

I have tried a couple of times to put him back in and he immediately starts the feather pecking again, i do the back tap and remove him, maybe too much testosterone and he may settle down. He is very sweet with me and doesn't even attempt to jump out of his cage when i go in to poo scoop.

I will have to cull some of the boys as i only want 1 rooster... so my question is will he settle down and stop this feather pecking or should i just cull him now and it will be an elimination process. Last one standing gets to stay. All the others are good with me aswell, so im more concerned with his temperment with the girls down the track. I know its early days but maybe its a sign and to wean out bad behavior now.
Chickens are smart and when im not there, there could be big trouble.

 

[sourland]

Considering other factors, type/size - if the others were his equal he would be the first to go.

 

[AstraChick]

Considering other factors, type/size - if the others were his equal he would be the first to go.

all 9 are the same breed, same hatching, they are developing at different rates. from what i can see it seems as though he has feather pecked from the bottom of the pack and was working his way up. First was 1 with blood then next day 2 then later that afternoon 3, i was watching and seen him do it and removed him. there was no more after i removed him. He was the first to show any signs of being a male. Maybe he was trying to get rid of the other males, but its too early to tell if the ones he pecked are boys or girls as they seem to be developing slower than him.

 

[Folly's place]

He'd be my first pick to cull, I agree. Temperament is the first cull point here, and I would certainly include this as 'poor temperament'!
Any showing signs of human aggression would be next, and any with conformation flaws. Then, large size/ fast growth is good, and watch the rest, if you still have more than one, and give them time to grow a bit. It's nice to be able to observe them for at least three to five months, before making that final pick.
I've picks badly sometimes, and just have to move on and do better the next year.
Mary