Aww, I'm glad they are doing well. I think they are a bit snuggly, because I handle them a lot when they are in the house. When they go out to nursery, I keep talking to them, they know my voice pretty well by then, and most babies will come to the doorway to see me. When they go to the grow out pen, I stay inside a bit and talk with them too. Today I went into a grow out pen, and they all came over and started eating like I wasn't even there. Then they came to the waterer which I was standing by, and started to drink. I talk to them off and on while in there. Once they are out of the grow out pen, and running around, I still talk to them. Yes, I am a chicken whisperer. lol...I have three pullets out there right now that will come near me..except of course..the EE. Some of those will, most of those stay clear for a while. Not the friendliest until they start laying. My Nn girl that has started laying soft shells on the ground, comes around me all of the time. Gladys. Will be glad when she starts laying nice eggs, and hopefully in a nest box! Anyway, she is right there running for the door when I open it..the back door of the house. All of my Nn's have been really friendly. All of them that I've had. I've had quite a few.Great birds.
I've been doing the same thing with my hatchery birds at home. One corner of the chicken yard is fenced off with a grow out pen and its own yard I call the prison yard (that's kinda what it reminds me of..). When I go out in the morning to give them their fermented feed I sit right by while they eat, and while they're out in the yard I just sit with them while they wander and scratch. It's kind of zen to just sit and watch your birds be themselves. Their personalities really come out when you get them comfortable with you and it helps you to pick the keepers. There's a wide variety of personalities in hatchery birds, from the ones that won't leave you alone to the ones that want nothing to do with you. When I sit with them there's a little group of about 5 that will gather around and peck at my shoelaces for like 20 minutes before they all just lay down and take a nap in the sun right next to me.
btw - After looking closer at them, I suspect the partridge and the one with the blue in the wings are going to be the cockerels, and the rest are gonna be pullets. That's my prediction. We'll have to see how far off I am.
