We placed an order for 25 chicks over a year ago. There have been lots of excuses over an extended time. I know the drought here in Texas last summer caused problems for a lot of folks, so we have been patient. This weekend we finally made the 5 hour round trip to pick up some of these birds. My wife agreed to accept 14 pullets and a couple roosters instead of the chicks because he said he still didn't have enough chicks. Well when we got there the story changed again and he he let us pick 14 mature birds and 3 roosters. He said these birds were about 2 years old and laying good. My bet is that these birds are a good bit older than 2 !! Well we got our birds and brought them home, south of Houston. When these birds saw the food they ate ravinously until their crops looked like they had swallowed a softball. Thinking back on our visit we saw no feeders around and in fact did not see a source of water. His place was near Waco and it was esentially desert, lots of prickly pear and not much else. The birds are quite large but had very little meat on their bones. I believe when they fill out they are going to be REALLY heavy birds. We don't believe his birds received optimum care but if we get some viable eggs I think with a little culling we will be real happy with these birds. We trimed toenails, spurs and beaks when we put them in their new pen. A couple of the hens had significant spurs which we will cull to eliminate. They also had considerable sized combs, one or two would rival a rooster comb. My wife checked their vents and is convinced they are hens. We plan to cull for color, (dark mustard), bird size, egg size and comb. The wife thinks she likes the bigger combs on the hens since it ist different from other breeds. If folks are still reading this thread we post more as we get familiar with these birds.
