The elusive Lamona??? WOW ! ! !Here is a pic of my friends young Lamona Cockerel
The Lamona chicken was named after the man principally responsible for its creation – Mr Harry S Lamon.
Mr Lamon was the senior poultry expert at the Bureau of Animal Industry. The Bureau eventually gave way to the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Lamon was attached to the Beltsville Agricultural Research Centre in Beltsville, Maryland. The Centre conceived the idea of a creating a new dual purpose breed of chicken which would combine the best factors of the meat and egg laying breeds available at the time.
Several characteristics were regarded as crucial.
* The bird must be an excellent producer of large, white eggs.
* It must have fine meat qualities especially after egg production had declined.
* The bird should be early developing, with fast growth.
* Good foraging abilities were required.
To achieve these objectives, three breeds were used – Silver-Grey Dorkings, White Leghorns and White Plymouth Rocks. Trials began in 1912. After sixteen years, the outcome was a high quality dual purpose fowl with a well-rounded body, an excellent layer and possessed of a well-fleshed carcase. Weightwise, the Lamona was lighter than the Plymouth Rock and Dorking but lighter than the Leghorn.
In 1933, the breed was recognised as such and admitted to the American Poultry Association’s Standard of Perfection. In 1960, a bantam version was recognised by the American Poultry Association.
Their excellent traits saw them enjoying some popularity but after the 1950s, The Cornish-Rock cross and the White Leghorn became the preferred breeds for meat and egg production respectively.
By the 1980s, the Lamona was close to extinction. A handful of enthusiasts persevered with the breed for some time. Around 2005, the American Breeds Conservancy, together with the American Poultry Association and the Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities, discovered several breeders who were still breeding the Lamona chicken. It is believed there are only two viable flocks of Lamona left in America.
Breeders have created a new bantam size Lamona by re-creating the crosses of the breeds used to obtain the original birds.
The Lamona was a good-sized chicken with a larger body size than a Leghorn. Cocks would reach 8 lbs and hens 6 ½ lbs. The plumage was white with yellow skin, beak and legs. Whilst most chicken breeds with red earlobes lay brown eggs, the Lamona laid white eggs. The bird had a single comb. Eggs were large and white. The record for egg production by a Lamona was 268 eggs per year using a trapnest system for recording.
Lamona is also a brand name used for a range of kitchen appliances and tapware. The logo of the company features a Lamona chicken
