Dr Art Heisdorf began poultry farming in 1926 when he purchased 23 White Wyandotte chicks. He was employed as a geneticist in the Kimber organisation which operated only in California within the US. He started his own layer breeding company with his wife Mary on a 15 acre farm near Kirkland Washington.
Kimber provided all the lines to set him up in Washington since he was not seen as a competitor in California. In 1947 Bert and Cliff Nelson joined the Heisdorfs as partners in the venture but sold out to the Heisdorfs in 1952. He imported many other strains of Leghorns for his breeding program. Following the death of M.E. Atkinson in 1953 Heisdorf purchased the Hollywood Hill Farm near Seattle. In 1971 the Pfizer Inc bought the company from Heisdorf and in August 1987 Lohmann and Co AG purchased it from Pfizer Inc.