Donald Shaver search widely for diversified breeding stock. Local breeders, knowing his reputation were reluctant 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 obtained assistance from geneticists conducting research at universities and government institutions. Shaver
Gaius Shaver not been included in any Olympic games since the 1932 games in Los Angeles. Shaver returned to USC as an assistant football coach from 1940–1945. He later worked as a salesman of construction equipment. In 1975, Shaver retired and moved from his home in Irvine, California, to a ranch north of Fallbrook, California, in San Diego County. Shaver and his wife, Stella, began raising oranges and tangerines on the ranch in the 1950s. Shaver was married to Stella Marie Chrisman. They had two children, Karen Shaver and Gaius John Shaver. In 1998, Shaver died of natural causes at his home