My grandfather and uncle have both had these but I never would - the cockerels and hens with eggs or chicks can be very aggressive and because of their size can do real damage if they want to - my uncle would bring a dustbin lid or a broom handle whenever he went to collect eggs, always wore boots after one pecked a puncture wound into his leg and no longer keeps any since having a child last year.
My grandfather's one scared me so much as a child I wouldn't walk past his cage on my own and he used to feed and water it by hooking the containers with a broom! Even then it would sometimes attack the broom handle!
EDIT:For some reason I couldn't comment or reply but I wanted to add, these were years apart, from different auctions, eggs, and breeders. My grandfather's one shamo was when I was just beyond toddling and I'm 18 now. My uncle has kept them for a few years (he loves them for some reason) but like I said, they scared him too and he wasn't going to risk having them going after his daughter when she started walking, given what they did to him as a fully grown adult!
My grandfather's one scared me so much as a child I wouldn't walk past his cage on my own and he used to feed and water it by hooking the containers with a broom! Even then it would sometimes attack the broom handle!
EDIT:For some reason I couldn't comment or reply but I wanted to add, these were years apart, from different auctions, eggs, and breeders. My grandfather's one shamo was when I was just beyond toddling and I'm 18 now. My uncle has kept them for a few years (he loves them for some reason) but like I said, they scared him too and he wasn't going to risk having them going after his daughter when she started walking, given what they did to him as a fully grown adult!
Being from "Auctions" I would bet anything that those birds are not pure, it is difficult to find pure Shamo as it is and on a Auction makes it even more difficult. Anyone who knows anything about Shamo know they are tough to find when finding good, true Shamo.
Being as they are probably crosses, they cannot necessarily represent the breed as a whole. Many cross bred birds will display poor personalities, mainly because most were probably not selected for right temperaments by a breeder. Shamo, Leghorn, Silkie, or other. It doesn't matter, that applies to all fowl. Auction birds in general are a waste of time/money, but there are some that may occasionally sell good birds.. You just have to do your research and know enough about the breed to know what to look for in quality stock.