Scaredy kitty! Socialisation advice

Our cats have had a litter of kittens. Both Mum and Dad are super friendly, but one out of the four of them is quite timid ...he squeals and squirms when picked up and seems terrified. He also flinches if anyone puts their hands out and reaches out to him. All the other kittens are very friendly and happy to be cuddled. They have all been handled every day from the age of 1 week. I am aware of the crucial socialisation period between 2 and 7 weeks, and they are now just over 6 weeks old. Does anyone have an ideas about why he might be like this and how to help him? Any advice is good!

Has a vet ruled out physical issues? No chance of partial blindness or deafness, nothing that makes him hurt? That would be the place to start.

They were all fine at 10 days old, and they're not due to go again until their first vaccinations in 2 weeks time, do you think it's worth it? He can definitely see and hear something!

If his behavior is that much different than his siblings, I think a checkup is well worth it. Was he a runt? Any other issues?

Oh dear, I didn't think of it being that sinister, thank you for your advice! No, he was the first born and no other noticeable differences from his siblings other than disliking people!

Actually, it's unfair to say he doesn't like people, he just doesn't like being handled! He doesn't mind strokes

I agree with @MrWhiskers, a vet check might catch something that is causing this one pain and that could be why he doesn't like to be handled.  Bring the whole litter so vet will have others to compare with.  I do know of one case where someone rescued a feral kitten and put it in with her tame cat's kittens.  They all looked alike, but if you happened to touch the ilttle feral guy, he would freak out.  He never did calm down and eventually after being neutered chose to become an outside cat who just showed up to be fed. 

On the other hand, it may just be his personality. I took in a pregnant stray a year ago who had four kittens. One kitten was always timid, shy, and stand-offish, and hated being touched and picked up. The others were fine with it.

Here we are one year later: I kept mom and all four kittens. They are all fantastic and sweet kittens, loving and well-behaved, BUT, the same kitten (now a year old) still will not let me just scoop him up, yet he sleeps with me every night, is very affectionate, and very sensitive. He loves to cuddle - on his terms. But he's fine - a sweet old soul. I adore him.

So, I think it's a matter of personality, just like with human children - some are outgoing, others not. Your kitten is probably just fine, but needs time to develop trust. He probably marches to the tune of his own drummer, like mine, and is more sensitive than the others.

Give it time! [emoji]128522[/emoji]

PS: Mine was first-born too!

I also wouldn't rush to a conclusion about something being wrong with your kitten. If he's ok with being pet and interacted with, he might just be particular about being picked up.

Have you been able to get dad neutered?

Update! He went to the vets and nothing is wrong vet thinks they just develop at different rates in different ways and he's still a bubby and like you said to give him time! I was on a waiting list for free neutering under a scheme in London, but it was too long so we ended up just having to pay for it before he makes even more babies! That's a point actually, the vet told us to keep him away from mamma cat for just a couple of days (he doesn't bother her anyway because she's not in heat) but I heard they can still have active sperm for up to 6 weeks ...anyone know how true this is?

Males can remain fertile for up to a month. I would supervise them whenever they are together in that window. Mom and babies call all be fixed when they are 8 weeks old. Just so you know, mom can get pregnant without being in heat.