Will they ever be tame?

My chicks are all terrified of me when they are little, no matter how much time I spend with them. The older they get the calmer they become. Around the time they start laying they follow me around begging for treats and will wait at the door for me.

 

bullyforme-
I feel exactly the same as you. And I raised my chicks from day 3 to present day (14 weeks old now) and they are all afraid of me. They won't let me near them when they're out in the yard. If I want to hold one, I have to corner it in the coop and catch it, then it screams bloody murder and the other hens freak.

But we do let them out and they are clearly happy hens. They return to the coop every evening when dusk sets in, like automatic. I suspect yours would too. I think they are smart enough to know it's safe in there and food and water, etc..

 

Lots of treats. Eventually they will knock you over trying to get treats from you when you come out of the house.

 

Ply them with yogurt and grapes and other yummy stuff and they'll soon be running to greet you! Even full-grown chickens can go from virtually wild to pets.

Edited to add: I think (what sounds like) the chaos of dogs and kids running around their coop right now is likely causing them to feel more unsettled and fearful. They don't see playful critters and kids, they see monsters that just might eat them. Zen is good.

 

I hatched mine and they're terrified of me! They're about 5-6 weeks old and everything terrifies them. But all my older chickens love me to death and these ones will too eventually (I hope!). If I sit quietly in their pen they will come around me after a couple minutes, but as soon as I move they freak out. Dopes.

 

I want to add that my six-week old chicks were terrified of me when I brought them home as little fluff balls. Every move was a cause for alarm. Now, they come running when they see me and don't run away when I stoop to pick them up. Last night, I realized how far we'd come when I was sitting quietly in their coop with them and something thumped against the roof (I think it was a pine cone); in a flash I had chicks all over me, on my arms and knees... They stayed there, still and tall, then relaxed and began preening, still perching on me. It made me ridiculously happy.