Have two cockerels, one is the alpha and a bit of a bully. The other, the beta, is much more of a gentleman. Looking to get rid of one because, as stated in other posts, we only have six chickens. The alpha hangs with the hens and stay clear of us. The beta is more engaged with us although he does at times want to square off with the woman of the house, nothing really serious at this point. I have no issues with either, we set the rules early on. Anyway, we’re thinking of getting rid of the alpha but thought we’d see what some of you seasoned owners have to say.
You definitely need to get rid of one. A couple of points, based on my experiences:
1) "Bullying" is common for "alpha" birds.
The pecking order never stays fixed. Birds lower in the order will often try to push the limts, and the birds higher up will defend their place (often pre-emptively). I see it every day with the roosters in my larger flock: The alpha will chase off the beta, then in short order the beta will chase the gamma. This gets triggered by all sorts of things: somebody mating with somebody else's favorite, somebody getting treats that they want for themselves or their hens. Sometimes my lead rooster chases the others to to place them wants them to stand watch over the flock.
A lot of times the "bullying" someone witnessed is the tail-end of an interaction that started out with the "victim" testing the "aggressor."
Last year my mom freaked out becuase she thought she saw one of the roosters mounting a squawking cockerel. What she didn't see but I did was the silent first half of that interaction, where the cockerel had charged the rooster with his hackles raised and wings spread.
Sometimes the alpha is just being pre-emptive and reminding the beta who's boss. You've got to remember this is a species that doesn't have a particularly sophisticated means of communication.
2) I wouldn't worry about your alpha rooster keeping his distace from you. If you read enough of these forums, you'll notice a common thread of friendly cockerels turning human aggressive when they mature.
I think there's several reasons for it: first, beign human-friendly means the bird is either more confidnt in general or it's simply imprinted on a person or persons and thus they sort of regard that person as just another chicken.
This is a double-edged sword: on one hand it can make your life easier as a chicken keeper because your chickens want to be around you. On the other hand if they get angry or they simply want to test your limits (which chickens constantly do with each other) his means they're more likely to engage in aggressive or rude behaviors.
One of the things I can't do is enjoy a snack on my deck any more because the little feathered moochers will surround me hoping I drop something. My friendliest hens are the ones that will literally try to jump in my lap and try snatch the food right out of my mouth.
3) I'm not sure what "wants to square off" with your partner means.
If he's raising his hackles and taking a fighting stance (wings spread, tail fanned out), he's challegning her and sizing her up for a physical attack.
If he does things like stamping a foot, darting at her, or acting like he's going to peck her that's still aggressive but not as bad. I refer to this behavior as "being punchy."
Neither behavior should ever be ignored or considered "cute." I'd be leery of keeping a rooster that's actually challenging people, that's a rather high-strung male and he is unlikely to improve with age.
I have been able to work with roosters that only get punchy. It's not the sort of thing I'd recommend to someone new to chickens but it can be done if you've got a decent working knowledge of their behavior and body language and can spare the time to train them.
4) You're absolutely right that you can't have two roosters in a flock that size. A 6 or 7 to one ratio can work if your birds have enough space and your rooster isn't crazy.
