RICHARD T. BREEDEN, SR.

 Richard T. Breeden, Sr. was born February 10, 1909 in Talbott, Tennessee. He married Beatrice McCarthy of Glen Alpine, North Carolina, in 1928. Mr. Breeden began his business career as a barber and become involved with poultry in the early 1930’s by purchasing eggs during his weekend visits to his parent’s home in eastern Tennessee. He sold these eggs to local Morganton stores.

In the late 1930’s, Mr. Breeden began selling live poultry along with the eggs. Soon requests for dressed chickens developed from neighbors and local merchants, and Mr. and Mrs. Breeden met this need by killing and dressing a few chickens in their backyard.

The demand for the dressed chickens continued and by 1940, Mr. and Mrs. Breeden decided to devote full time to their growing poultry enterprise. Mr. Breeden sold his barber shop, purchased a gasoline station building, and launched into a "New York dressed" poultry operation. Mrs. Breeden kept the books and ran the office while Mr. Breeden managed the dressing operation and sales.

From this meager beginning, the Breeders began to expand. In 1952, B & L Feed and Supply was added to contract with farmers to supply broilers, and in 1954 Mountain Ice Hatchery became a part of the company. In 1958, a modern poultry processing plant was built with a capacity of 350,000 birds per week.

Mr. Breeden died on March 6, 1961. The company continued to grow with a feed mill being added in 1964 and a byproduct plant in 1968. The processing plant was completed remodeled and reequipped in 1979-80.

Mr. Breeden was truly a pioneer in developing the poultry industry in the Burke County area. He and Mrs. Breeden contributed much to the economy of the area.  The North Carolina Poultry Federation membership is pleased to honor him by induction in the North Carolina Poultry Hall of Fame.