choosing between chicks? signs of sweetness?

I am new to chicks with seven week old's myself. I don't have to choose to give any away to homes but I might have a few suggestions to help a bit.
Could the child pick out the chicks? If they are companions for him maybe he would like to choose? At the advice of some friends who have had chickens for years I have been spending a great deal of time socializing my birds. I sit on the floor with them and let them eat chick starter and/or greens from my hand. I hold each one of them a few times a week, and at this point there are girls that will come up to me and hop up on my lap for rubs. We do have a roo in the group who is the least social. He will come over to get food, but at this point will not be held without struggling. I have gotten a pretty good sense of their personalities by just hanging out with them I think. I know which chick would just as well eat my finger as what I am offering, and which chick just wants love instead of food... Good luck!

 

Is there a child that would like to play with the chickens handy? If so have the child or you, interact with each of the chickens. I am really shocked that the SLW is aggressive....mine is just a doll baby.

I would chose the birds that are healthy, friendly, come to you readily and will allowing bneing picked up without too much fuss.

 

I personally find it VERY hard to predict friendliness as chicks. They seem to go under massive personality changes at the 2-3 month teen stage, and then again at the egg laying stage. Some of my nicest chicks turned into little hellions that bounce off walls and would scream bloody murder if you touched them, while some of the more skittish ones ended up calmer.

Best of luck, picking just a few is always a challenge. But when you are down to the last three, you can spend even more time holding them. My tamest ones probably had at least 2 hours a day of being held for the first 4 months of t heir lives. That was when I was just a kid though, and had that kind of time.

 

Shouldn't you wait until you can tell which ones are roosters? Ending up with a roo or especially 3 could be traumatic for the kid. I would think 2week is a little early to really tell even besides watching for roos. Mine are just developping personalities and starting to get friendly at 2weeks.

 

i think that you might want to wait a little bit more time to let the chicks come into there own. but my austrolorp was the lowest of the pecking order and now she loves to sit on my hand and be pet all the time so it just takes more time for them to get to know you. you could also try cochins, if you have one they are all around friendly and my faverolle follows me when i let her out of the coop so mainly it takes time. but just so you know the ones i have were all from the lower end of the pecking order adn when i get them away from the head chick they started to look to me as the head chick and always want to be by me. thats my thought on picking them.

 

My Buff Orp Audrey was the friendliest from the moment they arrived. She has always run right over and wanted to be patted and held. Same with the Black Australorp( Natalee) we have.
My Cochin, Rock and other 2 Orps you can tell just really prefer to not be held

At this point it has become sort of a competition between Audrey and Natalee to see who gets up and onto an arm first when I open the brooder. BTW they are 6.5 weeks. Coop isnt done yet. So all 6 girls are still in the living room.

 

Silkie is right...they go through BIG changes when they get a little older. My friendliest one as a chick is now my shy one. I was hoping it would stay friendly.