I like to raise Black Australorps and Rhode Island Reds for the most part, with Black Cochin's for setters and roosters as they have a much more relaxed dispositions IMHO.
I spend a lot of time handling our chicks from day one , along with all of our other birds, as I will sit on the floor next to a brooder and dangle a hand down so that the babies can get comfortable with my presence and with me touching them and picking them up when they hop up into my open palm. I do this when we are watching tv/movie/ browsing the internet .
I use big clear plastic tubs with locking lids that have hardware clothe openings sandwiched between 1"x2" furring strips so as to make them cat proof, and to set a heat lamp on . I also prop up a large brightly colored stuffed owl toy in a corner with outstretched wings on a upside down heat lamp cage in which the baby birds flock under for comfort until they are to big to do so anymore.
I also talk to them , so that when I take them outside for a bit and call to them .."Coooome toooo Papppaaa !" they come a running , which the neighbors get a big kick out of when I call the geese and they come a flapping to me ! When it is time for the older birds to go into their respective coops I simply walk behind them with my arms outstretched imitating wings and tell them to "Go nite nite , go nite nite, all chickens/ducks/geese go to bed" in a little sing-song tone. And yes they put themselves away with me or my little granddaughters following them to lock them up for the night.
The birds are so gentle with us , and just us, that when the girls were like 3 and 4 years old they would just walk into the chicken pen by themselves to happily gather up eggs with never one single rooster/hen attack ever . Hence why I like to use Cochins to mix with the bloodlines, that and hand raising them make for much easier to handle birds , like when I have to clip wings and such.
It can be a bit of a pain in the begging at times , but in the end it is well worth it .
Besides, I would much rather spend my time with my wife and our animals then deal with most of our extended family and other grown ass morons these days ... hehehee