Forgive my rant here; but I'm upset with ideal poultry right now and have to vent. So a month or so ago I bought from ideal thirteen pullets and two cockerels. All were supposed to be buff orpingtons. But one of the pullets came out looking different. I thought 'ok, they sent me one wrong one. It happens' So I had a breed expert come out to my place. She having had nearly every breed of standard chicken there is I knew she would tell me what it was. I just had to know. You know? (They are a month or two now I can't remember. Still have my receipt but just for the life of me cant remember) So she came to my place went to the backyard and with one look said "those aren't buff orps". So I asked what the one weird one was. She said "Not just that one (indicating the one oddball). All of them. Those there are cinnamon queens and that odd one out is a new hampshire red; They tend to have that coloring and she's starting to get green on her neck. The two roos are leghorns" I couldn't believe it. I was just dumbfounded. After she left (With the excess chicks I had to order due to a min order policy) I went to check the net immediately. I knew she wasn't lying of course but had to see for myself. Every picture I pulled up on those breeds matched my chicks perfectly. No doubt in any way. I was so ticked off. I mean, I had my heart set on orps. I've wanted them so badly for so long and after all this. All the time and trouble it took to finally get them.. I am just ticked off. Now I'm not getting rid of the ones I got now. I love them dearly. (Gave the lady the ones I didn't want
) But now I know why they never looked like they did in the pictures. I had hoped I suppose that they were juvenile feathers to be molted away to new feathers.. No such luck. So to update my status now. I do Not have thirteen buff orps and four rir's. I have four rir's, a new hampshire red, four cinnamon queens and one white leghorn. Ten in total. Now, I really don't feel bad about what I got. I love those chickens. I do. But I feel let down knowing they aren't BO's. I know ideal wont do a thing about it. So I'm not even going to waste what little time I have with those twits.. But how can they give me three different types of chicken and not one the right one! ugh I need to stop dwelling on it. So now, all my research on my chicks is out the window. SO will the experts out there tell me the differences between BO's and my cinnamon queens? Will they lay as much, lay through winter like them, be as more or less flighty, more cold hardy and etc.? Will you also tell me a bit about the leghorn roo? I can do the research myself I suppose but is there anything I need to be aware of now. It'll take me awhile to get to researching the new breeds I apparently have. lol
