Experience with chick personality and temperament changes?

[AshenVulture]

First time raising chicks here! I have nine growing, and since I am not going to be keeping most of them I've been honing in on my criteria for the keepers.

Temperaments and personality are one of the big deciding factors as to which of them I keep, so I wanted to hear from folks who have more experience rearing chicks.
How late into development do you see personality growth/changes? Have you experienced any chicks that late in development suddenly do a 180 in temperament (such as going from calm and friendly to skittish, aggressive, or avoidant, or vice versa)?

My chicks are currently 7 weeks old, and I would say their personalities have been pretty consistent for the past 3-ish weeks with the occasional off-day, but I don't want to assume that will stay steady given that they're still growing adolescent animals.

Appreciate any wisdom and input thank you

 

[Debbie292d]

So much can change with chicks as they grow into adults. Seven weeks can be a good indicator, but nothing is ever a guaranteed sign they will stay the way they are at seven weeks to adult. Especially true for cockerels.

When I'm choosing who to keep at a young age, it's more their appearance than anything. That always changes too, but at seven weeks, you probably have a very good idea of what they'll look like as adults.

If the appearance doesn't help you, then you can just go with who seems to be the friendliest and hope they stay that way.

 

[K0k0shka]

Like with any other animal, there's a big wave of changes as they mature from youngsters to adolescents to adults. Point of lay is sort of the culmination of those changes for females. Some of them that were more skittish or feisty will even out their temperaments and chill out more as adults, or the calm ones may get more confident, it really depends on the individual. I have definitely had birds that got friendlier with people as they matured, even though they were skittish as chicks and young pullets. So don't draw any final conclusions at least until they start laying.

 

[hollandhens24]

My chicks have all only gotten more friendly as they matured, except my rooster who became a jerk with maturity after no sign of aggression as a chick. I don't hold my chicks or interact with them aside from providing them with food and water and cleaning the brooder. Once they move to the coop they realize that I am the source of treats, scraps, and my whole flock is more than willing to follow me as I do yard work and are all able to be handled as needed. They come running when I call and the extra friendly ones are constantly under my feet. I have two pullets who were absolutely insane to have in the brooder in the house this spring that have become much sweeter and more friendly since moving to the coop, they're now 7 weeks old. Unless you're set on having a lap chicken, I would pick based on their appearance/breeds that you prefer.