A clerical error and an entrepreneurial housewife revolutionized America’s eating
habits and transformed Delaware’s agriculture. Before Cecile Steele, Americans ate
mostly beef and pork because no one could raise young chickens successfully for commercial
markets.
In 1923, a Dagsboro hatchery accidentally sent Mrs. Steele 500 chickens instead of the
50 she ordered. She raised the chicks and sold them for a hefty profit—and hatched
the modern broiler chicken industry. Poultry farmers capitalized on Delaware’s
temperate climate, feed-producing farms, and modern highways that connected them to large
urban markets. By the 1930s, Delaware led the nation in broiler production, making "a
chicken in every pot" a reality. The industry continues to provide thousands of jobs
on farms, in processing plants, and in associated industries. Today Sussex County produces
more broilers than any other county in America.
