Donald McQueen Shaver OC, (born August 12, 1920) is a Canadian pioneer in the poultry industry, who founded a breeding company that achieved worldwide prominence. At its peak Shaver Poultry Breeding Farms was the world's largest, being one of only two "world class foundation breeding" companies in Canada.
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Early life
Born in Galt Ontario (today part of Cambridge) he attended Galt Primary School and the Galt Collegiate Institute, graduating 1937. His mother's family was of Scottish descent, while his father's side was Hessian, settling in Canada around 1840. The family name was originally "schæfære" meaning shepherd.
He developed an interest in poultry when in 1932 he was given two hens by a great aunt. Young Don would travel by bicycle to attend poultry conferences given by Prof. W.R. Graham at OAC. His business was first named Grand Valley Hatchery after the local region in Ontario. By the mid '30s he was selling 2000 chickens a week. In 1935 his White Leghorns won a Canadian national 350-day egg-laying contest.
During World War II he volunteered for the army in 1941. He received officer training in Brockville, and after six months was shipped to England. He trained there with Fifth Armoured division, and was sent to Italy in late 1943 as a tank squadron commander. The division took part in the capture of Rimini and Ravenna in late 1944. The division was then transferred back to Western Europe. Shaver rose in rank to Lieutenant Colonel, and remained in Europe until January 1946.
Post-War Success
During his war service, New York State College was caring for his breeding stock and hatching eggs, but the entire flock was consumed by fire in 1944. Returning home, Shaver would eventually regard this as a lucky break, as he was forced to search widely for diversified breeding stock. Local breeders, knowing his reputation were relucant to sell to him for fear of competition. In 1946 there were 256 registered chicken breeders in Canada. Shaver Poultry became the 257th. By 1958 only Shaver remained along with seven other major poultry breeders worldwide.
The principle of hybrid vigour had been well established for corn, but the costs and time required to test chicken crosses were higher. Small breeders (as Shaver was at the time) could not afford permanent scientific staff, so Shaver had assistance from geneticists conducting research at universities and government institutions. Shaver enjoyed good industrial infrastructure with easy highway access to Toronto airport. The University of Guelph was only half an hour away, with the Poultry Department providing diagnostic work, nutrition and disease consultation. Agriculture Canada also provided valuable support.
In 1954 the Shaver Starcross 288 was introduced, named for the number of eggs it laid in one of the initial tests, which surpassed other breeders. At the advice of C.D. Howe, Shaver expanded outside Canada in the late 1950s. Chile was the first international market, then subsequently the USA, the UK, France and Germany. By 1957 Shaver had a Romanian operation, and in 1970 Ghana. At his retirement in 1985 his company was operating in 94 countries. In 1988, Shaver, by their own calculation had 33% of the world market for white egg laying hens and 25% for all egg layers.
Shaver launched a broiler product in 1958. In the early 1970s the market share in the US was around 8-10%.
Cargill purchased part of Shaver in 1964. Mr. Shaver retired in 1985, and Cargill bought all of the company at that time. Shaver was acquired by ISA in 1988, and then made part of Merial. The egg layer business kept the Shaver name, and was sold as Natexis Industrie in 2003, and then to Hendrix Genetics in 2005.
Other Pursuits
In 1962 Shaver ran unsuccessfully as a federal Liberal candidate.
Since his retirement, Shaver has taken an interest in gene conservation. He maintained several pure lines of egg type poultry at his home farm near Cambridge. He later donated these flocks to the University of Guelph.