Donald McQueen Shaver

Donald Shaver of Galt, a descendant of United Empire Loyalists, succeeded in breeding championship egg-laying hens at the age of twelve.

Following service as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Tank Corps in World War II, he became a professional poultry breeder, and in 1954 developed a small-framed leghorn, named Shaver Starcross 288 for the number of eggs laid in one year. It became the world’s champion egg layer and was continuously awarded the Poultry Tribune Trophy, emblematic of world leadership. Later he developed the Starbro boiler, an outstanding meat producer.

Through modern technology and business management, Shaver expanded into the export field, with regional headquarters in Britain, France, Germany and the United States, with joint ventures in Pakistan, and distributors and breeding farms in seventy countries. Shaver advocated and practised the sharing of modern food-producing technology with developing nations. He was awarded a Centennial Medal by the Ontario Agricultural College in 1974.