About new kitten?

I would leave him to come out in his own time

Don't force him

You were given ridiculous advice by the woman at the rescue centre.

Definitely do not force him out.
Leave him be.

Speak to him very gently.

Give him time.

He Will come to you in his own time.
Be patient he will get there.

Definitely follow the rescuers advice. You really do need to keep the interaction with the kitten up, it’s the way to ensure that he domesticates. We recently had older feral kittens in where I volunteer, one of them came round fairly quickly, but the sibling didn’t. He would hiss and freak if you tried to get near him. We had to wrap him in a towel and sit with him on our laps. It took weeks but eventually he started purring and the towel was no longer needed.

We are very open with our adopters and ensure they fully understand the continuing training these kittens need. Without the consistency in those early days, they can really regress and then domesticating an older kitten is quite a bit more difficult, especially if they have learned how to swipe and bite. A semi feral is often worse than a full feral (full ferals will run when they feel threatened, whereas semi ferals will stand their ground more).

Have to say though some of the best cats we have at the rescue are former ferals. I especially love it when a much older feral finally realises we are good to them and comes to us for cuddles. We’ve had complete ferals domesticate into lap cats, but we are lucky that we have the space and environment at our rescue to allow the cats to do as they want. Some turn domestic and some never do.

congratulations on your new family member, keep up the interaction and fingers crossed he turns into a soppy kitty soon.

Aw, he's a cutie!!!! We have had farm cats before. Agree with PPs ... leave him to acclimate. However they do need to get used to people. So e.g, leave toys out for them to explore on their own it don't expect them to play when you wave them around. Go into the room and talk, put away laundry etc, but don't drag them out of under the bed for a cuddle. If you do at home yoga do it in the room. If you walk in and they're eating or using the litter tray walk straight out!! They will get there.

He's gorgeous 😍

A vet once said to me it is important to talk to your kittens as much as possible and handle them in their early days that way you have a sociable cat. All ours have been sociable and he said that was why. I also heard our local cat rescue say this to a family who had adopted two at about 11 weeks she said you must talk to them and socialise them. At a lot of cat rescues have socialises who sit in the pens with the cats. We have cuddle monsters not had a kitten recently as we have adopted cats of about 5 as we have an elderly Mother and a kitten would be dangerous

Awww
i would absolutely love an all black male kitten if circumstance ever allows

Our first black cat was called Smeagol, Meags for short 🐈‍⬛

I've got a kitten who was completely feral. He was on a farm with 7 other kittens that needed homes.

He was very spicy when he arrived, hissed and wouldn't come near us and was difficult to handle. We just fed him, put toys out and left him alone. We carried on as normal so he got used to noise.

A week later he was sat on my chest purring away, nestling into my neck and was very affectionate. He's now an adorable 1 year old and loves cuddles! So I'm sure your kitten will come around and love you all!

Sounds like your woman might have been thinking of the 'feral window' for socialisation.

That's a very narrow period between about 2-6 weeks and ordinarily applies to hand-rearing orphaned or abandoned ferals.

Just give the wee guy time and I'm sure he'll be grand.

He needs his own room.

If the rescue are advising OP to do what is typical advice for socialising feral/semi-feral kittens, there's probably a really good reason for that. The rescue woman isn't stupid or an idiot or whatever other names are being chucked at her, and she knows the kitten's needs better that any of us posting here.

He is an absolute beauty!!!!

Try putting melted butter on the backs of your hands and the tops of your feet.

If he gets close enough to you he’ll form a positive association between you and the smell and may want to lick you.

Worked for a nervous kitten I had years ago. And all of my cats started out nervy - it’s very normal :)

My new kitten hid for ages. Every night we heard him come out and walk up and down the piano keys. He got brave enough to come out and meet us eventually.
In my experience kittens are really good at finding their litter trays, even if they haven’t used them before.
The rescue lady is talking nonsense. Your kitten will make friends with you in their own good time.

Follow Fairy Cat Mother on Twitter (or X). Frankie fosters kittens kittens and might give some good ideas 🐱🐈

Aw, I know I'm honoured to be the Chosen One! The kids laugh- they generally feed him and DH gives him treats but I'm the one he cuddles into. And walks over. And climbs over.
From the hissy, spitty bundle of fur that I collected 2 years ago - he's such a softie now. He's not perfectly socialised, still won't go near strangers and can be skittish if there's loud noises, but loves belly rubs and is happy for the kids to carry him about.

What a cutie. Definitely leave him. When we brought our rescue home she hid inside our brand new sofa! It took a couple of days but now she rules the roost. We thought she had got out of the house at one point as she totally disappeared & we checked everywhere for her but she had just found another safe spot and came out when she was feeling brave. Seems they can squeeze into the smallest spaces. Don't worry. You will soon be a kitten slave.

Awww

Shelters/rescues will often say its best for cats to stay with mum/siblings until 12-16 weeks for "cat socialisation" etc.

This works well for pet kittens when mum is a domesticated, well socialised family pet and the litter are living in a family home with daily handling, children around etc, vet visits etc.

It does not work well when mum is a terrified feral or semi feral cat, and the litter are living in a rescue or over crowded foster home with often 10 plus cats and a single volunteer who simply can't give them enough attention. What you then get is a nervy, poorly socialised cat, who never quite loves human attention - perhaps only ever gets comfortable with one or two family members but won't let kids near them, won't sit on the sofa if a human is on it, is petrified of the vet/pet carrier.

If the mother cat is a feral or semi feral living in a rescue, it makes for a better socialised pet to rehome to a family home at around 8 weeks once the kitten is fully weaned. That way it will get loads of human socialisation just when its an age to explore and enjoy it.

He's just left his siblings and mum. He's a baby, in a new place, with new sounds and sights. Let him settle in. Do NOT force him out of his safe places. The woman is an idiot.

he is gorgeous. He’ll settle it’s just all so new and scary right now. If you’re on Facebook have a look at Atticus the attic cat page. A feral cat that was discovered in someone’s loft who took weeks to come round. He’s very settled now

Aw, that's fab news. Sounds like a curious and confident little thing. But I'd still stick with the occasional cuddle - no matter how mean it feels. Farm cats are generally semi-feral; they don't have the same experiences and human interaction as other kittens so they need different treatment.

The good news is that you should see results quickly. You know he likes being petted, you just need him to learn how to overcome his natural instinct of being afraid of you. Good luck!

That is a big step! And great progress.