What to do about an aggressive Rooster?

[bobbi-j]

Welcome!
Raising cockerels is something that can take some experience, and we all start somewhere!
I'm assuming that this is your first flock, all babies the same age?! If so, your youngster has hit adolescence without having any hens or roosters to teach him proper behavior (as in making him humble!), and you haven't been able to read his signals, having no previous experience with cockerels.
You will get lots of conflicting advice here too, some from us 'old fogies' with decades of rooster experiences, and some from first time flock owners.
I would stop hand feeding, rather throw goodies on the ground and let the birds do their thing, not go for your hands.
Chasing and screaming are generally counterproductive!!!
You want to walk through your flock, having them move out of your space, rather than walking around anyone (well, a broody hen). You are the giant who brings food, not a flock member. I'm not a fan of a cockerel who's dancing for me, but chasing him is still a bad idea. You can carry a stick or bucket, and happen to touch him with it as you are walking around out there, if he happens to be in your path.
@Beekissed has a good article here about managing roosters.
I've never had a truly nasty cockerel or rooster who behaved better because I carried him around, or did much of anything towards him; over time, the bad boys got worse, and were never safe for perhaps more than one person.
I don't think you have a problem yet, but be careful, and have a Plan B.
Mary

This ^^^^

Keep an eye on him. If he starts to show more aggression, a Plan B would be a good idea. I raise my cockerels similarly to Follysplace. I walk through them. I sometimes just walk toward them to make them move. If one comes toward me, I will walk at him and back him up. They grow up keeping a respectful distance from me. As they get older, I will allow that gap to close a bit. My current rooster comes right up to me when I have a bucket because he knows that means treats. He never gives me a sideways glance or any signs of aggression. (He's 1 1/2 years old, so I think it would show up by now if he were to have those tendencies.)

I have not had a bad rooster since I started raising them with a hands-off approach. As soon as I recognize a cockerel, I stop handling them. I show them "who's boss" by simply going about my business and correcting them if they think they need to test me. Again, I do this simply by walking at them and backing them up. If I want to go from Point A to Point B and there is a cockerel or rooster in my way, I walk right through them. If I need to inspect for injuries or something, it's done at night when I can pick him off the roost.

 

[Henry&Friends]

I've never had a truly nasty cockerel or rooster who behaved better because I carried him around, or did much of anything towards him; over time, the bad boys got worse, and were never safe for perhaps more than one person.

I disagree. I had a rooster, Henry VIII II, who would relentlessly beat people. I would, against the wishes of my family, beat him back, carry him around, separate him, etc. etc. etc. yet he would never lay off beating people— except he learned never to beat on me. He wasn’t particularly nice to me, he was poor mannered and would still run up behind me to try to flog me, but he would stop in his tracks before he’d touch me. He still beat on my family and then he died but our newest rooster, Henry VIII III, has never hurt any people. He gets out of everybody’s way, and tidbits all the girls— he’s a very nice boy.

I went off track there, but some roosters will behave better, even if it’s only towards you (and that’s all that counts to me)

 

[bobbi-j]

I disagree. I had a rooster, Henry VIII II, who would relentlessly beat people. I would, against the wishes of my family, beat him back, carry him around, separate him, etc. etc. etc. yet he would never lay off beating people— except he learned never to beat on me. He wasn’t particularly nice to me, he was poor mannered and would still run up behind me to try to flog me, but he would stop in his tracks before he’d touch me. He still beat on my family and then he died but our newest rooster, Henry VIII III, has never hurt any people. He gets out of everybody’s way, and tidbits all the girls— he’s a very nice boy.

I went off track there, but some roosters will behave better, even if it’s only towards you (and that’s all that counts to me)

So carrying him around didn't correct the problem, as he continued to attack others. He only learned to fear you.

The problem with a human aggressive rooster is that he is a liability. If he were to attack and injure a visitor to your place, it could be a very expensive attack. Sounds like you have a winner in your current rooster.

 

[Folly's place]

And that's exactly what I said; the human aggressive cock birds might learn to avoid an individual, but they are never safe for other humans!
When a rooster is stalking the flock caretakers, he's not doing his job, which is to take care of his flock and watch out for actual predators.
I don't want anyone, especially a child, injured here because I've kept a nasty rooster! This also goes for any who injure hens or pullets. Life is too short to have an attack bird!!!
Mary

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Folly has the good advice on this. The only time I've ever had the carrying bit work is when...

A) The rooster was young and pushing boundaries just a bit and didn't have a serious problem.
B) I didn't do a "nice" carry. Instead I'd snatch him up quickly and aggressively and then carry him to the other side of the lawn upside down, then gently flip him upright and just yeet him away. Then block his path back to the hens until he was going way out of his way avoiding me to get back to them. Not really a "carry him around nicely" scenario. the rooster comes out rattled but physically unharmed.

Nice carries seemed to do nothing and never fixed a serious problem.

 

[Skippersnh]

Point is the op does not have a aggressive rooster lol

 

[RaineyTN]

It doesn’t sound like he has an aggressive bird to me just a maturing cockerel.

 

[bobbi-j]

Point is the op does not have a aggressive rooster lol

Yet. But it does sound like he's testing his boundaries.

 

[Folly's place]

And the OP was asking for advice on rooster management.
Mary

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

The side step is a mating dance he's not doing any harm
A lot of the time a rooster likes to put himself in between his flock and you so you can feed him and he can call the girls over and offer the food to them himself
It sounds like you have a very good rooster

Your father is wrong. It is as @DobieLover mentions a herding movement. You'll know when he's trying to spur you.
May I suggest you read this article.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/understanding-your-rooster.75056/
It may not solve the problems you are likely to have but it will give you an idea of what are and what are not aggressive rooster movements.

All the aggressive roosters I've had start showing aggression by doing the side step. Some will do it just before attacking. I have watched my roosters do the side step/wing shuffle as a challenge towards each other, and hens will do it too. However, I do have one rooster who does the wing shuffle but hasn't shown aggression in the almost two years I've had him, even towards small children.