Hello, new here and new to chickens.

[ChaosMom]

I'd love to try the chick thing but my wife and kids are very not on board with "dealing" with the inevitable boys.

I bought my mini-flock of three from a local hatchery/breeder. She sells them at six weeks (there was a delay on our end for picking up). They are raised outside, inside at night. The first evening I found all three on top of their coop and put them inside, where they slept on the floor in a cuddle puddle. Every single night since, they have put themselves into the coop and up on the roosts, waiting for me to close the coop door.

- the reason the seller waits until six weeks is for them to be fully feathered and be pretty confident that they’re female.

Mine aren’t very cuddly, and I attribute this to them not hatching here, so they didn’t imprint on me. But they will cautiously take treats from my hand, especially Trader Joe’s raw unsalted slivered almonds. They go wild for these!

Sadly, you got burned by a bad seller. With time, maybe your birds’ natural instincts will return and they’ll settle down to chickening. Good luck!

 

[beany_bot]

The issue with BO's (I belive) is that they are hard to sex early. So breeders need to hold onto them early. We have space for 2 more birds in the flock so will get some fertilized eggs next spring and give that a go!

 

[beany_bot]

Some good news.
All 3 hens have now for 6 nights in a row put themselves to bed correctly on their roost of their own accord! (The BOs using the ramp).

Delighted.

I've started picking them up everyday too, which I wouldn't say they like, but tolerate without freaking out once in my lap.

No eggs yet but things coming together.

They go bananas for Black fly larva so they get some of them after being held too.

Few things to note. Many of my preconceptions have been smashed haha. Where I was really concerned about the light Sussex being too noisy. While she is more talkative than the BOs. Far from it being a concern, it's my favourite thing about the hens! I really enjoy her chirpings and murmorings and chatterings. I can tell when she's excited, when she's content and when she's saying it's time for bed. Loads of fun!