I usually handle them right after hatching to start with. If you respond to its noises it will partially imprint onto you. It is important that however your interactions began, they end peacefully. It is good not to force things, and picking them up from the side and underneath is better than grabbing them from above. I have a rule to not release them if they're panicking, which applies more to adults who haven't been handled before. They're allowed to peacefully walk away once they've settled but if they won't I'll just hold them until they do. The animal has to come to the point where it understands you intend it no harm. Once they know what to expect they'll settle and allow you to hold them. Treats are always good.
You'll come across many naysayers who don't believe chickens should be handled because they're birds, or because they're livestock, but both lines of reasoning don't hold up for many reasons. Normally, livestock of all species including birds must be able to be handled for their own wellbeing and safety, for treatment and other reasons, etc; and livestock that are never handled limit the application of good husbandry methods with their fear. Also they're much more dangerous for us to handle too. Chickens have been domesticated for uncounted generations and handling to some degree has been practiced throughout that span.
The main reason we have flighty chickens is due I believe to owners who don't believe they should be handled, because they undo the work others have done by not reinforcing it. Each to their own I guess. Some people think all birds are prone to heart attacks when handled, but this is also not the case, no more than it is with sheep, cows, cats and dogs etc (which also can have stress induced heart attacks). Other people say they can always tell when their chooks need treatment because then they don't flee, they allow themselves to be handled. Problem being that by the time the terrified bird is unable to act on its terror like usual, it's already far gone, so treatment stands a greatly lessened chance of success, and just the act of being treated will terrify the animal beyond reason. There's no need for livestock nor pets to fear their owners.
Some people believe that roosters/males in general are better not handled so they are afraid and therefore theoretically less likely to attack you, but leaders in the livestock industries in Australia place great importance on males being able to be handled, not wild, and cull for any excessive flightiness, no matter the species. Frightened livestock are unproductive and dangerous livestock. Of course any animal, tame or not, can attack you, but being tame in my experience vastly decreases the likelihood. A male's likeliness to attack you depends on his mentality, not how tame or wild/afraid he is, and gender is the least of the considerations. It's a deeper underlying issue irrespective of his handling history; just because he's a male does not mean he automatically views everything else as something to be either mated or attacked. All my males are friendly and I have had a total of one attack a human out of many hundreds of males. This single rooster was not bred nor originally handled by me, I got him as a juvenile, from a lady who bred vicious males due to her beliefs on males.
Sorry to ramble on, but I believe you're on the right track with deciding to tame them, and since this is a bit of a controversial subject for some, I'm just offering my reasons why I believe you're better off with tame livestock. They're better off too. It's a bit pointlessly tragic when you lose a good animal because of its unreasoning fear of humans, just because the time was never taken to help it overcome that fear. Best wishes.
