@aart @BantyChooks ok this convo makes me feel better. I was considering rehoming him and assuming I couldn’t handle a rooster right now if he’s going to attack me, but he’s only just started acting this way. Maybe I can regain his trust and not let him see other people picking up hens. Should I still hand feed him? Should I continue to casually pick up non-fussy hens? Or lay off of that for a while? Should I let him mate in front of me?
If he does jump at me what method of punishment should I use?
It really depends on what you want to try. You've certainly gotten quite the spread of advice. Pick something and stick to it, and then cross your fingers that it works. Personally? I'm not going to limit myself on interaction with other flock members based on any other bird, and I'm not going to limit that bird's interaction with the flock. Correcting an action doesn't necessarily correct the mind, especially when there can be many motivations for a single behaviour; if it's not aggression, and it gets an aggressive response from you, he's going to be frightened. It takes time and experience with chickens to be able to pick out the differences that can't really be written down. Breed matters. Setup matters. Unconscious body language matters.
I don't feel comfortable making any more recommendations without knowing exactly where your bird is in the scale of tractability around humans. Maybe start by spending several hours out there, not interacting, but watching from a distance. Look at how he moves when he's relaxed, when he sees food, when there's a disagreement with the hens. Listen closely to differences in vocalizations. Write it down, if it helps. The point here is not to see what he does around humans, it's to pick up on his natural cues as they appear in his day-to-day life. You won't be able to pick up on abnormal behaviours if you don't know normal.