The Lamona - Sunbird Farms

Henry Lamon’s Chicken

Created in the early 1900’s the Lamona chicken was nearly the “American,” though some thought “Columbian” might be a fitting name. But in the end, after nearly a decade of effort, there was really only one fitting name for this new breed. As the USDA’s Chief of the Bureau of Animal Industry put it in 1921:

“The original idea of developing this breed was Mr. Lamon’s… he is the designated leader, …[e]very mating has been made by him and he is entitled to the credit.”- JNO. R. Mohler, Chief of Bureau

And so it was that on August 23rd of the same year, the Secretary of Agriculture approved this “great accomplishment” of a breed, naming it, the Lamona. That this new breed should be highlighted not only in the American Poultry Journal, but also in Popular Science Monthly, is a testament to the efforts of Mr. Lamon.

Every part of the bird was considered and intended. Abundant white egg layer, check. Yellow skin, check. A carcass that was fit for the table after the useful laying life, check. A red earlobe, check (perhaps the most challenging part in Mr. Lamon’s opinion). That last bit seems a bit strange today, but poultry people around the world understand that white eggs come from hens with white earlobes. This signature contribution was both a challenge genetically and a trademark of sorts for the creator. It also allowed the birds to be differentiated from white Leghorns. To each his own…

The Pedigree

The origin of the Lamona, unlike most of the birds we’ve covered here, is not shrouded in mystery or contentiously debated. In 1912, Henry Lamon, senior poultryman of the USDA’s experimental farm in Beltsville, MA, began the long and well-documented process of creating what Popular Science would later call the “Super-Chicken” (Popular Science Monthly; Nov. 1923, p.73).

In search of a white egg layer (white eggs were believed to be preferred because of their “cleaner” appearance and drew premiums at the time), Mr. Lamon used cockerels from both the White Plymouth Rock (Frank Davey) and the White Leghorn (Dan Young). Because egg-producing quality comes through the male line, the Rock would ensure eggs were laid year-round, the Leghorn that they would be white and plentiful.

But rather than solely focusing on eggs, this “Super-Chicken” should also excel in table qualities. For that, he included the venerable Silver Gray Dorking hen in the mix (courtesy of Watson Westfall). The Livestock Conservancy’s website states that, as a table fowl, the Dorking has “few peers and no superlatives.” As Popular Science went on to illustrate, the purpose was “to produce a chicken that would combine the stout, ample body desired by the butcher,” with beautiful white feathering and eggs year-round. The result was a bird with relatively short legs, a body “long and of great depth,” which carried a significant amount of the “desirable white breast meat.” (PSM; Nov. 1923; p.73)

The Progress

By the early 1920s, the Lamona was gaining great recognition. Trapnesting had demonstrated that they could lay more than 250 eggs in a year. Mr. Lamon was being highlighted in the National Poultry Institutes book, “You Can Raise Poultry For Profit,” which promised that Mr. Lamon would show readers how this was possible.

In fact, the Lamona was so popular that it was soon the recipient of the highest form of flattery: imitation. As early as 1922, breeders were looking to replicate the Lamona. As Michael Boyer documented in the Jan. 1922 edition of the American Poultry Advocate, one Mr. John T. Chambers of New Jersey was hot on Prof. Lamon’s tail. Touted as a breed “the commercial poultry world has been longing for,” Mr. Chambers used similar chickens in creating the Shamrock. Unlike the Lamona, Chambers used a rose-combed Dorking in the mix, following a slightly different recipe. Alas, the poor Shamrock did little to unseat the Lamona, though soon the entire category of dual-purpose fowl would teeter on the edge of extinction.

The Fall

In spite of their prowess in the field and their inclination to quick growth, the Lamona was unable to satisfy the demands of an ever-industrializing food system. While farmers and early researchers strove for the perfect all-rounder, it wouldn’t be long before the singular focus of hybridized meat birds and battery-cage layers would be demanded.

By WWII, red meat was very difficult to come by and so poultry was called on to fill the gap. The industry worried that it would not be able to keep up with the increasing demand, and as a result, the A&P Food Stores, the nation’s largest retailer of poultry, offered to sponsor a contest, “The Chicken of Tomorrow.” Beginning in 1946, the national contest would culminate in June of 1948, with a grand prize of $5000. The winner: a flock created by crossing red Cornish males on New Hampshire females. While not the final recipe for today’s Cornish-cross, it was the beginning of the end for heritage, dual-purpose breeds like the Lamona.

According to the Livestock Conservancy’s historic ALBC page, by 1980, Lamonas were believed to be extinct. Rumors abounded in the early 2000s that a couple of flocks remained, hidden away from public view. But as this author has had close ties to the Livestock Conservancy, and served on the board, you would be as likely to validate sightings of the Loch Ness monster as you would be these claims of the elusive Lamona. For all intents and purposes, the original Lamonas faded away into history.

The Lamona Today

Today, the Lamona has been brought back to life. Through efforts by the late Steve Gerdes, the continued stewardship of his son Kurt, and the breeding programs of commited poultry people like Greenfire Farms and Two Fat Guys Poultry, the Lamona has returned. Virtually genetically identical, thanks to the careful notes and clear guidelines set out by Henry Lamon, this dedicated band of breeders have been able to resurect this historic American breed. Indeed, the offspring of the Gerdes Lamonas have been shown and successful at a number of APA shows.

Sunbird Farms reached out to Jon Alden of Two Fat Guys Poultry back in December of 2013. Jon and his partner had acquired some of the Gerdes line of Lamonas after Steve’s passing, and were working to finish the 8-9 year project that Mr. Gerdes has started. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right. But in 2020, we were able to acquire our first little flock from Greenfire Farms. These birds are absolutely stunning, the most beautiful white birds we’ve ever seen. Having been big fans of Dorkings, we are so excited to be working with these Lamonas. We plan to expand our genetics in early 2021, acquiring some eggs from Jon Alden after a nearly 8-year wait. We look forward to sharing these birds with you, our friends, in late 2021.