It is still hot here. Yesterday was 96 or so. Today is supposed to be a degree or so cooler. Hopefully we will get to seasonal normal temps for us soon.
Hot is worse for chickens. I am not saying cold is a picnic LOL! The EO Marraduna Basque that we all have came from Canada, so they have been culled for cold tolerance. They are still heat tolerant too. The Roos do have fairly large combs so they can get frost bite but seem to be just as hardy in cold as other breeds.
The different types from Spain is a great question. I have read about 5 or 6 Land Race Breeds that were saved and perfected by a University Professor. I have seen a naked necked, Black, Meat and one that looks a bit like a RIR or New Hampshire Red. It is hard to figure out what they all are because of the Translations. Marraduna is what we have and they are barred brown to red.
As for hatch rates, It depends on the amount of bounces in the road. 300 miles can often be worse than 2500 by air(Next time you might want to try the egg train. BYC members will arrange to drive the eggs to you. Look for it here). The ones from Aspen that I hatched were from the first pullet eggs. They were small and the Roo was probably not in full gear. Still the one that hatched is very nice. The ones shipped to you should do much better. Hatching eggs should be 1.75 ounce and larger for LF breeds. The largest from this hatch was 1.65. The smallest was 1.2. The three in the 1.6 range were the ones that developed but two were late quitters.
Packing the eggs makes a difference too. Skyline has a great packing method on his website. Out of all the eggs I have had shipped to me, his(and Ron Fogelly's-he used the same method) were the best.
Enjoy the cooler weather!
Ron