Male on male aggression

[weelouie]

In my Budgie City I have two males and four females. Recently the "alpha" male of the flock has begun courting one of the hens very intensely. There's no nest box in the cage, so I'm not worried about eggs. 

However, the alpha has begun aggressively chasing the other male around the cage. The second male screeches and screams. The alpha hacks at the other male with his beak when he gets close enough. The chasing used to be in short, occasional bursts of a minute or less, now it's almost constant. The alpha alternates between wooing his chosen hen and attacking the other male viciously. The second male now spends much of his time clinging to the side of the cage or hiding on a high perch in the rear corner of the cage. 

What do I do about this behaviour? Should one of the males be removed from the cage, temporarily or permanently? Or should I just ignore it and it will pass? I feel sorry for the second male, being isolated from his flock mates, stuck in a corner or hanging on the cage on his own. 

[Hezz]

Why should it be the second male that is moved? He isn't doing anything wrong. I would be moving the one who is causing all the grief, not only to give the other cock a break, but your hen might also appreciate the separation. He doesn't have to left on his own all the time; you can always allow visits from one or two of the other hens to keep him company at times.

[weelouie]

Nov 6, 2016 0:58:26 GMT Hezz said:

Why should it be the second male that is moved? He isn't doing anything wrong. I would be moving the one who is causing all the grief, not only to give the other cock a break, but your hen might also appreciate the separation. He doesn't have to left on his own all the time; you can always allow visits from one or two of the other hens to keep him company at times.

Actually I wasn't planning on moving the second male, I was thinking of moving the alpha. After I posted, I remembered what I used to do when my African Grey got hormonal. They are a major pain when they get that way. He used to hang upside down in his cage swinging side to side and emitting his aggravating and extremely loud mating call. He wouldn't come down to eat or drink, and would cover himself with poop. During one episode which had gone on for days, I got worried and called the vet, who told me to bring him in. I towelled him, unhooked his toes and put him in a plastic dog crate with newspaper on the bottom and food and water dishes. In minutes he "snapped out of it" and began eagerly drinking and eating, so I canceled the vet. I kept him in there overnight and then he was fine when he got back into his cage. From then on, I used the crate to stop excessive hormonal behaviour. 

I thought a change of scene for the alpha would put paid to his aggression and pursuit of the hen, so earlier today I put him in a travel cage - much to my other male's relief. I will have to put him back with the others when I cover them for bed tonight, because I can't bring the travel cage to my bedroom (I'm using it to quarantine my new English budgies) and it won't be safe to leave a small cage within range of the cats. I guess I'll find out in the morning if "his sails have been trimmed".