Racing Pigeon News
Class of 2019
23rd February
Today the class of 2019 took their first trip outside. It was a fantastic morning, mild with very little wind so it was a great opportunity to give them a few hours of freedom to take a look at the surroundings.
We have an aviary on every loft so they already have had a good look around since weaning them one week ago but now they are getting up to the top perches it’s time to come out.
The main worry at the moment is the sparrow hawk attacking them on the roof. This is one of the reasons why early young birds especially should learn good habits from day one and they must either stay on the landing board, take a wander on the garden, or be busy roof to roof. Young birds that get into the habit of constantly staying and laying down on the roof in the same spot all day every day will just pick up bad habits and never be good trappers.
All 20 had to come in via the landing board and through the bob wire even first time out. It didn’t take long for them to realise what was expected. I’ve heard stories of local fanciers taking a basket onto the loft roof and dropping them in through the Sputnik one by one to “teach them”. Stuff like this always makes me laugh. The intelligent ones always now what to do here straight away and if they have consistent problems with it then they should be removed from the racing team they will just hold the good ones back.
Today was also the WSEC spring fair. I’m sure it would have been well supported, and I hope everyone had a great time. We didn’t attend, there is far too much work to do at the loft with racing around the corner and the young birds take priority but I hope everyone who did attend had a great time and for everything they wanted.
Today the class of 2019 took their first trip outside. It was a fantastic morning, mild with very little wind so it was a great opportunity to give them a few hours of freedom to take a look at the surroundings.
We have an aviary on every loft so they already have had a good look around since weaning them one week ago but now they are getting up to the top perches it’s time to come out.
The main worry at the moment is the sparrow hawk attacking them on the roof. This is one of the reasons why early young birds especially should learn good habits from day one and they must either stay on the landing board, take a wander on the garden, or be busy roof to roof. Young birds that get into the habit of constantly staying and laying down on the roof in the same spot all day every day will just pick up bad habits and never be good trappers.
All 20 had to come in via the landing board and through the bob wire even first time out. It didn’t take long for them to realise what was expected. I’ve heard stories of local fanciers taking a basket onto the loft roof and dropping them in through the Sputnik one by one to “teach them”. Stuff like this always makes me laugh. The intelligent ones always now what to do here straight away and if they have consistent problems with it then they should be removed from the racing team they will just hold the good ones back.
Today was also the WSEC spring fair. I’m sure it would have been well supported, and I hope everyone had a great time. We didn’t attend, there is far too much work to do at the loft with racing around the corner and the young birds take priority but I hope everyone who did attend had a great time and for everything they wanted.
Pedigrees
16th February
I read with great interest the post by Peter Fox regarding the auction of Stef Bals on pipa. It appears that he / Peter Colijn have been written out of the history books on the pedigrees by Stef / Maarten and pipa themselves.
I’ve visited Maarten Huisjmans myself, not to buy pigeons but to look at his system and breeding pigeons. They were too expensive and we never considered buying them but this story is disappointing. He was a nice guy, I suspect we all know who suggested changing the pedigrees.
I’ve attached a link below for anyone interested.
It’s not the first time or the last time this will happen.
It’s even happened to us personally. The pigeon Halles Hero now owned by Mark Evans (Myrtle lofts) winner of several big races into Wales over the channel.
Since he has moved to Mark Evans his pedigree contradicts reports in the BHW and online, and a different pedigree actually written by the fanciers who raced him on a different site, and of course we have been written out completely and our name isn’t mentioned once on the new pedigrees.
It doesn’t really matter to us and everyonr should do their homework from whoever you buy pigeons from.
Another notorious breeder, originally from Wales conveniently stopped selling pigeons on that well known site when they brought in mandatory DNA profiles for all youngsters sold. You can’t sell a young bird without DNA proof. But since then not a single pigeon from his has been sold on there. Make of that what you will!
https://www.syndicatelofts.com/stef-balsmaarten-huijsman-and-pipa-auction-update/
I read with great interest the post by Peter Fox regarding the auction of Stef Bals on pipa. It appears that he / Peter Colijn have been written out of the history books on the pedigrees by Stef / Maarten and pipa themselves.
I’ve visited Maarten Huisjmans myself, not to buy pigeons but to look at his system and breeding pigeons. They were too expensive and we never considered buying them but this story is disappointing. He was a nice guy, I suspect we all know who suggested changing the pedigrees.
I’ve attached a link below for anyone interested.
It’s not the first time or the last time this will happen.
It’s even happened to us personally. The pigeon Halles Hero now owned by Mark Evans (Myrtle lofts) winner of several big races into Wales over the channel.
Since he has moved to Mark Evans his pedigree contradicts reports in the BHW and online, and a different pedigree actually written by the fanciers who raced him on a different site, and of course we have been written out completely and our name isn’t mentioned once on the new pedigrees.
It doesn’t really matter to us and everyonr should do their homework from whoever you buy pigeons from.
Another notorious breeder, originally from Wales conveniently stopped selling pigeons on that well known site when they brought in mandatory DNA profiles for all youngsters sold. You can’t sell a young bird without DNA proof. But since then not a single pigeon from his has been sold on there. Make of that what you will!
https://www.syndicatelofts.com/stef-balsmaarten-huijsman-and-pipa-auction-update/
First of the Year
15th February
Today I weaned the first young birds to their new loft. They were starting to come out of the nest pans and take a look at the surroundings even though they hadn’t fully feathered under the wing, they were certainly ready. Hopefully there will be some very good ones amongst them.
Today also marked the first hawk attack of the year. Our cocks were enjoying the warm afternoon and TWO falcons decided to take a look at everything that was in the air.
Their main target was our yearling grizzle cock bred by Rene Vervoort who performed really well last year with many top prizes. He was missing for over 2 hours but thankfully he made it back unharmed and didn’t seem particularly bothered by the incident.
No doubt this will the first attack of many, and you also need to factor in the sparrowhawk who will be going down to nest soon. They left empty handed this time, we did everything we could to put them off and were ready and waiting for it. But we might not be so lucky next time.
Sadly a sign of things to come.......
Today I weaned the first young birds to their new loft. They were starting to come out of the nest pans and take a look at the surroundings even though they hadn’t fully feathered under the wing, they were certainly ready. Hopefully there will be some very good ones amongst them.
Today also marked the first hawk attack of the year. Our cocks were enjoying the warm afternoon and TWO falcons decided to take a look at everything that was in the air.
Their main target was our yearling grizzle cock bred by Rene Vervoort who performed really well last year with many top prizes. He was missing for over 2 hours but thankfully he made it back unharmed and didn’t seem particularly bothered by the incident.
No doubt this will the first attack of many, and you also need to factor in the sparrowhawk who will be going down to nest soon. They left empty handed this time, we did everything we could to put them off and were ready and waiting for it. But we might not be so lucky next time.
Sadly a sign of things to come.......
Almost here
1st February
In Belgium the season begins in 6 weeks time. The season is fast upon us and as you can see from the picture below from my friend Koen Cop even the young birds are well matured.
This year I’ve taken a more relaxed approach with breeding. I put 10 early pairs down just before Xmas and the results have been excellent. I can’t take any credit for this. It’s all been down to the hard work of my mother who has done an excellent job with these pigeons! The 20 youngsters are growing very well and should be ready to be weaned in around 12 days times. The system is very straight forward. The receive a normal breeding mix, I add some pellets to the feed and the also get plenty of fresh grit daily. In the water they get our homemade acid product and also 3 times a week a new product which is a natural defender against paratyphoid. I’ve mentioned it in a previous post and so far I’m satisfied with the results.
After the cold spell has ended we will put up our final breeding and race pairs next week. There is no rush there is still ample time to take 2 rounds from these pigeons. Plus the pigeons need to be in excellent shape, especially the hens. Today I handled all our hens and there is one or two a little heavy, so another week on a rationed light diet won’t do any harm at all. Factor in the hours of light in 7 days time will be a little longer then it’s perfect.
Both our recent young bird nationals winners were bred from couples paired in the first week of February, not early so I think that tells it’s own story regarding early breeding.
In Belgium the season begins in 6 weeks time. The season is fast upon us and as you can see from the picture below from my friend Koen Cop even the young birds are well matured.
This year I’ve taken a more relaxed approach with breeding. I put 10 early pairs down just before Xmas and the results have been excellent. I can’t take any credit for this. It’s all been down to the hard work of my mother who has done an excellent job with these pigeons! The 20 youngsters are growing very well and should be ready to be weaned in around 12 days times. The system is very straight forward. The receive a normal breeding mix, I add some pellets to the feed and the also get plenty of fresh grit daily. In the water they get our homemade acid product and also 3 times a week a new product which is a natural defender against paratyphoid. I’ve mentioned it in a previous post and so far I’m satisfied with the results.
After the cold spell has ended we will put up our final breeding and race pairs next week. There is no rush there is still ample time to take 2 rounds from these pigeons. Plus the pigeons need to be in excellent shape, especially the hens. Today I handled all our hens and there is one or two a little heavy, so another week on a rationed light diet won’t do any harm at all. Factor in the hours of light in 7 days time will be a little longer then it’s perfect.
Both our recent young bird nationals winners were bred from couples paired in the first week of February, not early so I think that tells it’s own story regarding early breeding.
Yellow Drops
24th January
One of the products that has become very popular in recent years is the so called “yellow drops”.
After reading many reports on the effect I decided to give them a try in the past.
Yellow drops are Acriflavine - and it’s main use is to help treat skin infections in fishes.
It’s been reported that the yellow drops have a positive effect on canker if given to the birds weekly. You give the bird one drop into the beak every week, although you can give in the drinker or over the food as well.
You need to be very careful when using them as they do stain clothes, and if you have a lot of pigeons it’s a lot of work to give it to all the pigeons.
The verdict? Personally I found them a total waste of time and money. They don’t work. Our pigeons very rarely give a positive test for canker for years now and we acidify the water 365 days a year, but the yellow drops made no difference to the health or performance of the pigeons.
I’m not the only one who has found this, I won’t name names but I can list many top fanciers who have come to the same verdict on these drops.
Of course if you give them and have had a positive experience then keep doing it. It’s better to put some yellow drops in the water than throwing in some medication like some fanciers seem to do for 2 days.
The reason for writing this post is one of my sons fishes currently has a skin infection so I found the yellow drops in the cupboard and treated it with them for the past 5 days. The skin infection is still there, so the drops are now in the bin. My advice is save your money, these are just another money maker for the manufacturers!
One of the products that has become very popular in recent years is the so called “yellow drops”.
After reading many reports on the effect I decided to give them a try in the past.
Yellow drops are Acriflavine - and it’s main use is to help treat skin infections in fishes.
It’s been reported that the yellow drops have a positive effect on canker if given to the birds weekly. You give the bird one drop into the beak every week, although you can give in the drinker or over the food as well.
You need to be very careful when using them as they do stain clothes, and if you have a lot of pigeons it’s a lot of work to give it to all the pigeons.
The verdict? Personally I found them a total waste of time and money. They don’t work. Our pigeons very rarely give a positive test for canker for years now and we acidify the water 365 days a year, but the yellow drops made no difference to the health or performance of the pigeons.
I’m not the only one who has found this, I won’t name names but I can list many top fanciers who have come to the same verdict on these drops.
Of course if you give them and have had a positive experience then keep doing it. It’s better to put some yellow drops in the water than throwing in some medication like some fanciers seem to do for 2 days.
The reason for writing this post is one of my sons fishes currently has a skin infection so I found the yellow drops in the cupboard and treated it with them for the past 5 days. The skin infection is still there, so the drops are now in the bin. My advice is save your money, these are just another money maker for the manufacturers!
Latest Fashion
21st January
With the dust now settled from Blackpool - the feedback I’ve heard regarding auctions has been very interesting, but not surprising.
The latest fashionable strain went well as predicted. Maybe in some auctions not as high as expected, but still making very good prices.
I think what surprised me the most was the sale involving several MNFC and NFC club winners. From what I am told pigeons direct from National winners were selling for as low as £50 each and in one case a child of 1st National x 2nd National sold for only £75.
I guess it’s just a sign of the times, although as far back as 20 years ago when I was a kid I can remember certain families being in fashion and then passed on for the next big thing.
The fact is in a lot of cases it doesn’t work, it’s only hype created by certain sellers. I know of one recent case where a fancier replaced his entire stock team of winners with a new, in fashion strain and the results have been awful.
Don’t get me wrong, every fancier should look to improve and try to buy quality. I do scratch my head sometimes how or why some people end up buying what they do, but the main thing of course is being happy with your purchase.
I am told the highest price paid at Blackpool was for a Rik Heremans pigeon sold at the De Duif sale? The Willem De Bruijn pigeon I mentioned in a previous blog sold for £7500. Cheap if you compare it to the sister sold to Eijerkamp a few weeks ago for €26,000.
The Rik Heremans pigeon sold to the vet Dr Henk De Weerd. I wonder if this is on the back of the recent auction where “James Legend” sold in China for €2,600,000 (mentioned in a previous post). The mother comes from Rik Heremans so maybe there is huge potential for Henk to make a large profit on the Asian market? Although the Rik Heremans pigeon itself in James Legend comes via the pigeons from Koopman / Verkerk.
We ourselves have made an investment in several pigeons from Bas Verkerk. What I’ve noticed in particular over the past few years is their ability to break away from the pack. The best example in 2018 is Iron Man. Winner of 3 races for Hok Vercammen in top competition with several minutes lead. Racing against the likes of Dirk Van Dyke, Heremans, Ad S, Eddy Janssens etc. Iron man is a 50% Verkerk pigeon, the father comes directly from Bas. He is just one example of many.
What will be the next big thing in the next few years? If I was to hazard a guess right now then it’ll probably be the Rudy Van Reeth pigeons.
Why? Rudy’s results over the last few years have been OK, but it’s the origin of the pigeons. Several famous UK sellers have made a huge investment in them. My guess is because Rudy has a shared stock loft with Dirk Van Den Bulck. Rudy was also a helper to Karel Laenen and took most of the top pigeons from Karel. People might know Karel as the racer of Pitbull. These pigeons are starting to make good money here already. But, one thing to mention there are many pigeons called Pitbull in this “strain”. For example the one most talk about is a 2007 Pigeon. BUT, it’s grandfather is also called Pitbull and comes from Aerts Brothers in Bevel. There are also other children, grandchildren etc named Pitbull so be careful to check the ring numbers!
The main reason is the buyers of the Van Reeth birds are the same people who sell the Bulck pigeons. There is no way they will want them to fail. If they succeed then it’ll make their Bulck pigeons more valuable, as obviously with a close partnership Rudy crosses these lines. And as the Pitbull craze grows then they have the perfect selling opportunity of old and new fashion rolled into one pigeon.
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but the reality is the good ones from Van Den Bulck / Van Reeth are no better than the good ones from e.g Heremans-Ceusters, and the bad ones are just as shit as the bad ones from Leo too. They all fly in either the Tienverbond / Diamantverbond. Just for note the best flyer in the Tienverbond the past 2 seasons has been Harry Smoulders in Pulle, not DVD Bulck.
With the dust now settled from Blackpool - the feedback I’ve heard regarding auctions has been very interesting, but not surprising.
The latest fashionable strain went well as predicted. Maybe in some auctions not as high as expected, but still making very good prices.
I think what surprised me the most was the sale involving several MNFC and NFC club winners. From what I am told pigeons direct from National winners were selling for as low as £50 each and in one case a child of 1st National x 2nd National sold for only £75.
I guess it’s just a sign of the times, although as far back as 20 years ago when I was a kid I can remember certain families being in fashion and then passed on for the next big thing.
The fact is in a lot of cases it doesn’t work, it’s only hype created by certain sellers. I know of one recent case where a fancier replaced his entire stock team of winners with a new, in fashion strain and the results have been awful.
Don’t get me wrong, every fancier should look to improve and try to buy quality. I do scratch my head sometimes how or why some people end up buying what they do, but the main thing of course is being happy with your purchase.
I am told the highest price paid at Blackpool was for a Rik Heremans pigeon sold at the De Duif sale? The Willem De Bruijn pigeon I mentioned in a previous blog sold for £7500. Cheap if you compare it to the sister sold to Eijerkamp a few weeks ago for €26,000.
The Rik Heremans pigeon sold to the vet Dr Henk De Weerd. I wonder if this is on the back of the recent auction where “James Legend” sold in China for €2,600,000 (mentioned in a previous post). The mother comes from Rik Heremans so maybe there is huge potential for Henk to make a large profit on the Asian market? Although the Rik Heremans pigeon itself in James Legend comes via the pigeons from Koopman / Verkerk.
We ourselves have made an investment in several pigeons from Bas Verkerk. What I’ve noticed in particular over the past few years is their ability to break away from the pack. The best example in 2018 is Iron Man. Winner of 3 races for Hok Vercammen in top competition with several minutes lead. Racing against the likes of Dirk Van Dyke, Heremans, Ad S, Eddy Janssens etc. Iron man is a 50% Verkerk pigeon, the father comes directly from Bas. He is just one example of many.
What will be the next big thing in the next few years? If I was to hazard a guess right now then it’ll probably be the Rudy Van Reeth pigeons.
Why? Rudy’s results over the last few years have been OK, but it’s the origin of the pigeons. Several famous UK sellers have made a huge investment in them. My guess is because Rudy has a shared stock loft with Dirk Van Den Bulck. Rudy was also a helper to Karel Laenen and took most of the top pigeons from Karel. People might know Karel as the racer of Pitbull. These pigeons are starting to make good money here already. But, one thing to mention there are many pigeons called Pitbull in this “strain”. For example the one most talk about is a 2007 Pigeon. BUT, it’s grandfather is also called Pitbull and comes from Aerts Brothers in Bevel. There are also other children, grandchildren etc named Pitbull so be careful to check the ring numbers!
The main reason is the buyers of the Van Reeth birds are the same people who sell the Bulck pigeons. There is no way they will want them to fail. If they succeed then it’ll make their Bulck pigeons more valuable, as obviously with a close partnership Rudy crosses these lines. And as the Pitbull craze grows then they have the perfect selling opportunity of old and new fashion rolled into one pigeon.
Maybe I’m being a bit harsh, but the reality is the good ones from Van Den Bulck / Van Reeth are no better than the good ones from e.g Heremans-Ceusters, and the bad ones are just as shit as the bad ones from Leo too. They all fly in either the Tienverbond / Diamantverbond. Just for note the best flyer in the Tienverbond the past 2 seasons has been Harry Smoulders in Pulle, not DVD Bulck.
All systems go
14th January
Everything here is still going smoothly with the breeding programme. All eggs have been successfully fertilised. I tweaked the preparation this year before pairing the first couples on the advice of Stijn Rans. I was a little nervous but the fertilisation rate has been as good as ever. So far 100% success and I couldn’t be happier. Now in 2-3 weeks I will couple the final stock pairs.
Yesterday me and my dad made the 45 mins drive over to Pontypool to visit one of the top lofts in Wales - Derek and Clive Flowers.
I’ve known them now for around 12 years. My dad first made me aware of Derek and Clive in 2007 when they were putting up some fine performances in the Welsh North Road federation which was very big at the time and my dad was secretary of the National. My dad predicted they would start to win Nationals over the next few years if they kept improving at the rate they were flying. The rest is history.
Derek and Clive have some excellent pigeons at their disposal and the family that has done extremely well in recent years are the Leo Heremans-Ceusters pigeons. Not just the Heremans, but they have been very dominant.
Me and my dad have been visiting Leo Heremans / Karel Ceusters / MVDV for 10 years now and they also have an influence at our own loft. For 2019 two children of Derek’s top couple Welsh Leo x Boeckx hen will breed here. And two children of our top breeding cock, the full brother of the world famous Olympic Leo and son of the renowned “Roeper pair” will breed with Derek in 2019. This cock is already responsible for 3 federation winners here so hopefully this line can continue to show its quality in 2019.
On the Welsh Leo x Boeckx hen couple - there are two children for sale next weekend in the Speed Auction. Having seen them yesterday they look in fantastic condition.
One thing is very obvious when you visit Derek and Clive. A high work ethic. Clive takes care of the breeders and Derek the racing pigeons. The lofts are spotless and the condition of the pigeons is excellent. The yearling cocks we handled felt like there were ready for racing.
One special pigeon that we did handle is the cock called “Alfie”. A National winner from Kinzweiler, and as I have read time and time again a 50% Verkerk pigeon. If I could select one to pick, even with all the other fantastic pigeons he would be the one I would take in a heartbeat. Hopefully in the future if the opportunity arises we can couple him with the direct daughter of Sieka, one of the foundation hens of Bas and personally selected for our breeding loft for 2019.
Everything here is still going smoothly with the breeding programme. All eggs have been successfully fertilised. I tweaked the preparation this year before pairing the first couples on the advice of Stijn Rans. I was a little nervous but the fertilisation rate has been as good as ever. So far 100% success and I couldn’t be happier. Now in 2-3 weeks I will couple the final stock pairs.
Yesterday me and my dad made the 45 mins drive over to Pontypool to visit one of the top lofts in Wales - Derek and Clive Flowers.
I’ve known them now for around 12 years. My dad first made me aware of Derek and Clive in 2007 when they were putting up some fine performances in the Welsh North Road federation which was very big at the time and my dad was secretary of the National. My dad predicted they would start to win Nationals over the next few years if they kept improving at the rate they were flying. The rest is history.
Derek and Clive have some excellent pigeons at their disposal and the family that has done extremely well in recent years are the Leo Heremans-Ceusters pigeons. Not just the Heremans, but they have been very dominant.
Me and my dad have been visiting Leo Heremans / Karel Ceusters / MVDV for 10 years now and they also have an influence at our own loft. For 2019 two children of Derek’s top couple Welsh Leo x Boeckx hen will breed here. And two children of our top breeding cock, the full brother of the world famous Olympic Leo and son of the renowned “Roeper pair” will breed with Derek in 2019. This cock is already responsible for 3 federation winners here so hopefully this line can continue to show its quality in 2019.
On the Welsh Leo x Boeckx hen couple - there are two children for sale next weekend in the Speed Auction. Having seen them yesterday they look in fantastic condition.
One thing is very obvious when you visit Derek and Clive. A high work ethic. Clive takes care of the breeders and Derek the racing pigeons. The lofts are spotless and the condition of the pigeons is excellent. The yearling cocks we handled felt like there were ready for racing.
One special pigeon that we did handle is the cock called “Alfie”. A National winner from Kinzweiler, and as I have read time and time again a 50% Verkerk pigeon. If I could select one to pick, even with all the other fantastic pigeons he would be the one I would take in a heartbeat. Hopefully in the future if the opportunity arises we can couple him with the direct daughter of Sieka, one of the foundation hens of Bas and personally selected for our breeding loft for 2019.
Blackpool
11th January 2019
Yesterday the Blackpool 2019 BHW edition was published. We haven’t had the weekly BHW for a while now but it’s always nice to take a look at the free online auction edition.
What is striking is the amount of Van Den Bulck pigeons for sale. We visited VDB while he was still unknown to most in the UK in 2011/2012 and the prices from the now famous names were still very low. I decided not to buy any.
In hindsight, it may seem like a crazy decision given the current prices but I decided not too for 2 reasons. One, I didn’t like the pigeons. We were already buying pigeons from Leo Heremans and these have a strong influence on the VDB birds. And two, I already knew of a famous fancier who took an entire round to race. It turned out he didn’t get one good one from the full round so that finished my interest. I won’t name the fancier but we are talking about someone who flys an exceptional pigeon.
There is no doubt that the VDB birds have taken over from the Gaby and Heremans pigeons as the must have accessory in the UK. No doubt there are some excellent pigeons in this “strain”, but as with any there are plenty of good and bad.
You also have to factor in when so many people race them then it will always appear that there are more good ones compared to other family’s. In hindsight what it actually means is there are also more BAD ones than any other family which makes it even more difficult to find the good ones.
What is slightly sad about Blackpool is the lack of performance pigeons for sale. I remember as a kid many sales used to be clearance sales of top fanciers selling top performance pigeons.
Now, and for many many years it’s purely the must have strain and the performance pigeons that are sold are generally old pigeons already bred from for years with people trying to get some money back on the purchase. This can be seen in the best of British Sale with several really old National winners being sold. Their best years are well behind them and/or they have turned out to be not as successful in the breeding loft.
There will be some excellent pigeons bought next weekend though that will go on to breed some fantastic pigeons, but I think over the years the quality has definitely got lower year on year. I wish everyone good luck with their purchases. One pigeon that, if I could afford it and of course if I liked it after handling it would be the pigeon in the De Duif sale sold by Willem De Bruijn. The child of the famous Olympic Hurricane. One recently sold to Eijerkamp for €26,000 so good luck to the buyer I hope it’s a good one 👍.
https://www.rpra.org/bhw-show-of-the-year-2019/
Yesterday the Blackpool 2019 BHW edition was published. We haven’t had the weekly BHW for a while now but it’s always nice to take a look at the free online auction edition.
What is striking is the amount of Van Den Bulck pigeons for sale. We visited VDB while he was still unknown to most in the UK in 2011/2012 and the prices from the now famous names were still very low. I decided not to buy any.
In hindsight, it may seem like a crazy decision given the current prices but I decided not too for 2 reasons. One, I didn’t like the pigeons. We were already buying pigeons from Leo Heremans and these have a strong influence on the VDB birds. And two, I already knew of a famous fancier who took an entire round to race. It turned out he didn’t get one good one from the full round so that finished my interest. I won’t name the fancier but we are talking about someone who flys an exceptional pigeon.
There is no doubt that the VDB birds have taken over from the Gaby and Heremans pigeons as the must have accessory in the UK. No doubt there are some excellent pigeons in this “strain”, but as with any there are plenty of good and bad.
You also have to factor in when so many people race them then it will always appear that there are more good ones compared to other family’s. In hindsight what it actually means is there are also more BAD ones than any other family which makes it even more difficult to find the good ones.
What is slightly sad about Blackpool is the lack of performance pigeons for sale. I remember as a kid many sales used to be clearance sales of top fanciers selling top performance pigeons.
Now, and for many many years it’s purely the must have strain and the performance pigeons that are sold are generally old pigeons already bred from for years with people trying to get some money back on the purchase. This can be seen in the best of British Sale with several really old National winners being sold. Their best years are well behind them and/or they have turned out to be not as successful in the breeding loft.
There will be some excellent pigeons bought next weekend though that will go on to breed some fantastic pigeons, but I think over the years the quality has definitely got lower year on year. I wish everyone good luck with their purchases. One pigeon that, if I could afford it and of course if I liked it after handling it would be the pigeon in the De Duif sale sold by Willem De Bruijn. The child of the famous Olympic Hurricane. One recently sold to Eijerkamp for €26,000 so good luck to the buyer I hope it’s a good one 👍.
https://www.rpra.org/bhw-show-of-the-year-2019/
Breeding Pairs
6th January 2019
I wrote previously about an excellent breeding couple. I’ve written about several exceptional racing / breeding pigeons but breeding pairs?
I believe there are very few exceptional breeding couples. But there are a few that do exist and I wanted to write about a pair I have experienced the quality of their offspring.
I met Jan VDP for the first time in 2013. Jan has been a young bird specialist for many years and until recently never raced with the old birds due to work commitments.
At the time I wanted to buy several pigeons from the best breeders and racers but there was an agreement with pipa to sell. But Jan selected one pigeon from the racing team for me outside of the sale, a cock.
I’ve been fortunate to spend many hours in Handel and now consider Jan a good friend. We mail and swap ideas. On my first trip to collect the pigeon, I have to be honest I wasn’t sure what to think of the pigeon. At the time he had no tail (not even one flight) and was heavy in the moult.
We left him in the aviary and after a few weeks he developed into a stunning pigeon.
Over the next 5 years this cock has turned into one of the best breeders we have ever owned. Every year children / gchildren/ ggchildren are at the top of the results sheet.
The cock is bred from the couple “De Orleans x Supertje”. They have been producing top winners year after year at Jans loft and others - attached are pictures and a document containing some of the results. An excellent breeding couple.
Another daughter is breeding here in 2019, she is already a very promising breeder herself being the mother of a 1st Combine winner at Jan’s loft already. I have high hopes for her children in 2019.
Here everything is now geared towards the breeding season. We have the best 10 couples on eggs and the remaining couples will be paired in 3 weeks time. The preparation for the breeding / raced season begins as soon as the last racing season ends.
It’s very important the pigeons receive plenty of calcium and minerals. Thats not a miracle product sold by a company or from a social media trader but a varied grit mixture. I mix my own and there are many different elements. The pigeons really enjoy it. I find some of the all in one mixtures like matrix good in tiny amounts but it’s a bit like chocolate to the pigeons. If you give to much they will put on weight and eat it before the food. The droppings will become very wet. Sometimes I mix the grit in with the feed, but they always receive some in pots refreshed once per day.
All other minerals are obtained via the grain. It’s important to feed a good quality, varied feed and grit mix. You want to see soft, well grown feathers on the new youngsters. If you don’t and scrimp with a cheap mixture then the result can be poorly weaned, weak young birds with a very poor feather / flight quality. These young birds will never win come the racing season.
I wrote previously about an excellent breeding couple. I’ve written about several exceptional racing / breeding pigeons but breeding pairs?
I believe there are very few exceptional breeding couples. But there are a few that do exist and I wanted to write about a pair I have experienced the quality of their offspring.
I met Jan VDP for the first time in 2013. Jan has been a young bird specialist for many years and until recently never raced with the old birds due to work commitments.
At the time I wanted to buy several pigeons from the best breeders and racers but there was an agreement with pipa to sell. But Jan selected one pigeon from the racing team for me outside of the sale, a cock.
I’ve been fortunate to spend many hours in Handel and now consider Jan a good friend. We mail and swap ideas. On my first trip to collect the pigeon, I have to be honest I wasn’t sure what to think of the pigeon. At the time he had no tail (not even one flight) and was heavy in the moult.
We left him in the aviary and after a few weeks he developed into a stunning pigeon.
Over the next 5 years this cock has turned into one of the best breeders we have ever owned. Every year children / gchildren/ ggchildren are at the top of the results sheet.
The cock is bred from the couple “De Orleans x Supertje”. They have been producing top winners year after year at Jans loft and others - attached are pictures and a document containing some of the results. An excellent breeding couple.
Another daughter is breeding here in 2019, she is already a very promising breeder herself being the mother of a 1st Combine winner at Jan’s loft already. I have high hopes for her children in 2019.
Here everything is now geared towards the breeding season. We have the best 10 couples on eggs and the remaining couples will be paired in 3 weeks time. The preparation for the breeding / raced season begins as soon as the last racing season ends.
It’s very important the pigeons receive plenty of calcium and minerals. Thats not a miracle product sold by a company or from a social media trader but a varied grit mixture. I mix my own and there are many different elements. The pigeons really enjoy it. I find some of the all in one mixtures like matrix good in tiny amounts but it’s a bit like chocolate to the pigeons. If you give to much they will put on weight and eat it before the food. The droppings will become very wet. Sometimes I mix the grit in with the feed, but they always receive some in pots refreshed once per day.
All other minerals are obtained via the grain. It’s important to feed a good quality, varied feed and grit mix. You want to see soft, well grown feathers on the new youngsters. If you don’t and scrimp with a cheap mixture then the result can be poorly weaned, weak young birds with a very poor feather / flight quality. These young birds will never win come the racing season.
| de17en18.doc |
Merry Christmas
I’d just like to wish everyone a great Christmas and a happy and healthy 2019! Fingers crossed for a smooth racing season 2019 and some great races.
Online Sales
21st December
The auction on pipa for Stefaan Lambrechts started at 5pm on Monday.
Not a total sale, only pigeons from 2014 and OLDER plus a selection of young birds. The young birds are included mainly to sell as part of one lot and the old pigeon is given with the young bird for free.
What is astonishing about this sale is there are 330 pigeons included. It’s a phenomenal number of birds considering everything from 2015-2018 are still at the lofts and not for sale.
The rise of these “mega lofts” and large sales is nothing new. Only recently at the total sale of Gaby Vandenabeele there was over 800 pigeons for sale, 500 young birds.
I visited Gaby a few years ago, I have no idea where 500 young birds could have been kept and obviously this was planned for a long time.
It’s just the start, there are some more to come before the season starts.
The difference between the two sales is Gaby had a total sale, Stefaan isn’t having one.
I think the buyers who purchase pigeons in the Stefaan Lambrects sale are being a bit naive. Already after a fee days the total value is at €300,000 but it will rocket up far higher.
No doubt Stefaan has excellent pigeons and is a brilliant flyer. He has flown an excellent pigeon for many years. There aren’t many better.
But it feels like a move to get rid of the old people’s home while they still carry some value. And the young birds that come with them as part of the lot? I have no doubt that the best ones that were bred are still sitting in Berlaar. I imagine a few rounds were taken and the best selected to stay and the next tier have been put out into this sale as part of the lot.
Maybe I am being a bit cynical? Good luck to all the buyers as long as they are happy with their purchase then that’s all that matters regardless of cost and age.
I’ve written in the past about some fantastic racing pigeons I have had the pleasure of handling over the past 20 years. Next time I will write about a very good breeding couple
The auction on pipa for Stefaan Lambrechts started at 5pm on Monday.
Not a total sale, only pigeons from 2014 and OLDER plus a selection of young birds. The young birds are included mainly to sell as part of one lot and the old pigeon is given with the young bird for free.
What is astonishing about this sale is there are 330 pigeons included. It’s a phenomenal number of birds considering everything from 2015-2018 are still at the lofts and not for sale.
The rise of these “mega lofts” and large sales is nothing new. Only recently at the total sale of Gaby Vandenabeele there was over 800 pigeons for sale, 500 young birds.
I visited Gaby a few years ago, I have no idea where 500 young birds could have been kept and obviously this was planned for a long time.
It’s just the start, there are some more to come before the season starts.
The difference between the two sales is Gaby had a total sale, Stefaan isn’t having one.
I think the buyers who purchase pigeons in the Stefaan Lambrects sale are being a bit naive. Already after a fee days the total value is at €300,000 but it will rocket up far higher.
No doubt Stefaan has excellent pigeons and is a brilliant flyer. He has flown an excellent pigeon for many years. There aren’t many better.
But it feels like a move to get rid of the old people’s home while they still carry some value. And the young birds that come with them as part of the lot? I have no doubt that the best ones that were bred are still sitting in Berlaar. I imagine a few rounds were taken and the best selected to stay and the next tier have been put out into this sale as part of the lot.
Maybe I am being a bit cynical? Good luck to all the buyers as long as they are happy with their purchase then that’s all that matters regardless of cost and age.
I’ve written in the past about some fantastic racing pigeons I have had the pleasure of handling over the past 20 years. Next time I will write about a very good breeding couple
Super Rossi 2
17th December
In a previous post I talked about the famous “Super Rossi”. A phenomenal racer / breeder for Embregts Theunis.
These lines are winning all around the world, and below I’ve attached 2 more Ace pigeons from this line. Two grandchildren of Super Rossi in Italy.
I chatted to Peter recently and the last 2 pigeons sold from him will be for sale on pipa.be in 2019. They will be far above our price range so I am happy we already have several children in the breeding loft.
Good luck to the buyers of these pigeons!
I also stumbled across the below information. Rather than summarise it’s better to copy and paste this from another blog. I do wonder how many racing pigeons have been victims of the shootings on route home? An interesting bird that does feature on the list of birds covered by the shooting license is the peregrine falcon:
Natural England have confirmed that they issued licences to shoot at least 40 species of birds between 2015 and 2018. The list of species makes for shocking reading and includes such treasured birds as the Skylark, Blackbird, Great Tit, Red Kite, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Kestrel, Bullfinch, Peregrine Falcon, Golden Plover, Robin and Wren.
I received the grim news as a result of a Freedom Of Information request.
Natural England say that these are all 'individual licences' permitting the 'lethal control (shooting)' of the said birds.
The list doesn't even include any species listed on the CL12 'Air Safety Class' licence or General Licences GL04, GL05 and GL06, so the actual number of species targeted is likely to be much higher.
I'd requested the information as part of my campaign to stop the cull of English Ravens and, in their response to my enquiry, Natural England have also confirmed that permission was granted to allow a total of 60 Ravens to be shot during the same period, 45 having been shot to date.
The news that so many of our most treasured species of birds have been shot is appalling and fills me with dismay. I know many of you will feel the same.
A significant number of the species for which shooting licences have been granted are classed as endangered and feature on the RSPB Red and Amber lists for birds of conservation concern, several including the Skylark, Curlew and Ringed Plover being in need of the most urgent conservation.
While the specific reason for each of the licences being issued is not known, can there be any justification for shooting a Bullfinch? Or a Wren for heaven's sake?
Who in their right mind requests permission to shoot a Skylark?
And for what possible reason?
The world, it seems, has finally gone mad.
Here is the full list of species for which shooting licences have been issued:-
Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Lesser Black Back Gull, Curlew, Oyster Catcher, Buzzard, Raven, Kestrel,
Peregrine Falcon, Grey Heron, Red Kite, Stock Dove, House Sparrow, Wren, Black Bird, Great Tit, Finch, Starling, Golden Plover, Cormorant, Goosander, Egyptian Goose, Moorhen, Mallard, Pink Footed Goose, Canada Goose, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Ruddy Duck, Bullfinch, Ringed Plover, Fantailed/White Dove Barnacle Goose, Robin, Coot, Sky Lark, Sparrow
In a previous post I talked about the famous “Super Rossi”. A phenomenal racer / breeder for Embregts Theunis.
These lines are winning all around the world, and below I’ve attached 2 more Ace pigeons from this line. Two grandchildren of Super Rossi in Italy.
I chatted to Peter recently and the last 2 pigeons sold from him will be for sale on pipa.be in 2019. They will be far above our price range so I am happy we already have several children in the breeding loft.
Good luck to the buyers of these pigeons!
I also stumbled across the below information. Rather than summarise it’s better to copy and paste this from another blog. I do wonder how many racing pigeons have been victims of the shootings on route home? An interesting bird that does feature on the list of birds covered by the shooting license is the peregrine falcon:
Natural England have confirmed that they issued licences to shoot at least 40 species of birds between 2015 and 2018. The list of species makes for shocking reading and includes such treasured birds as the Skylark, Blackbird, Great Tit, Red Kite, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Kestrel, Bullfinch, Peregrine Falcon, Golden Plover, Robin and Wren.
I received the grim news as a result of a Freedom Of Information request.
Natural England say that these are all 'individual licences' permitting the 'lethal control (shooting)' of the said birds.
The list doesn't even include any species listed on the CL12 'Air Safety Class' licence or General Licences GL04, GL05 and GL06, so the actual number of species targeted is likely to be much higher.
I'd requested the information as part of my campaign to stop the cull of English Ravens and, in their response to my enquiry, Natural England have also confirmed that permission was granted to allow a total of 60 Ravens to be shot during the same period, 45 having been shot to date.
The news that so many of our most treasured species of birds have been shot is appalling and fills me with dismay. I know many of you will feel the same.
A significant number of the species for which shooting licences have been granted are classed as endangered and feature on the RSPB Red and Amber lists for birds of conservation concern, several including the Skylark, Curlew and Ringed Plover being in need of the most urgent conservation.
While the specific reason for each of the licences being issued is not known, can there be any justification for shooting a Bullfinch? Or a Wren for heaven's sake?
Who in their right mind requests permission to shoot a Skylark?
And for what possible reason?
The world, it seems, has finally gone mad.
Here is the full list of species for which shooting licences have been issued:-
Brent Goose, Greylag Goose, Black Headed Gull, Herring Gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Lesser Black Back Gull, Curlew, Oyster Catcher, Buzzard, Raven, Kestrel,
Peregrine Falcon, Grey Heron, Red Kite, Stock Dove, House Sparrow, Wren, Black Bird, Great Tit, Finch, Starling, Golden Plover, Cormorant, Goosander, Egyptian Goose, Moorhen, Mallard, Pink Footed Goose, Canada Goose, Wigeon, Mute Swan, Ruddy Duck, Bullfinch, Ringed Plover, Fantailed/White Dove Barnacle Goose, Robin, Coot, Sky Lark, Sparrow
New World Record
6th December
A massive new world record price for a pigeon has been set in China at the annual charity auction of the Pioneer club.
The Pioneer club is a famous pigeon club in China where many multi millionaires compete. The annual auction contains all the best racers from the seasons race programme where a percentage of the proceeds go to Charity.
The Ace pigeon from the programme is a blue cock called “James Legend”. I attach below an extract from the auction report:
The most important and prestigious title there is undoubtedly the Ace Pigeon, which was won in 2018 by James Huang, a Taiwanese businessman, based in Shanghai and in the Pioneer Club represented by Taiwanese top fancier Chen Yong-Shan, who races the pigeons bred by James.
The Ace Pigeon winner 18-791 was renamed "James's Legend", (which he deserves without a doubt) because never before has such an exceptional pigeon flown in the Pioneer Club; Four weeks in a row in the top prizes in four flights of 321 miles (500 km.) in different weather conditions (which contributed to the decrease in the number of basketed pigeons). On his own, "James's Legend" won 7 cars throughout the competition, including a Mercedes G63 worth ca. €150,000.
Besides the Ace Pigeon, James also won the title "Champion Loft" Pioneer 2018, and in total he received the keys of no less than 13 different cars!
On November 20 of this year the auction of the Prize winning pigeons from the Pioneer Club took place, and after a long bidding battle, James could take home his ace pigeon for the unimaginable amount of 22 million Chinese yuan (renminbi), which works out at a cool €2.78 million... An absolute world record!
James Huang himself bought his Ace Pigeon winner back to return to his own loft in the charity auction of all the winners (part of the proceeds is donated to charities). Because of the unrivalled records (both sporting and commercial), he baptized his winner "James's Legend".
James finally wishes to thank everyone for the many messages of congratulations he received.
The pigeon achieved 4 notable results - 1st vs 2510, 6th vs 6589p, 8th vs 7361p and 16th vs 976p.
The losses in these races are remarkably high and they start with around 10,000p so there is no doubt James Legend is a fantastic pigeon. But €2.78 million??? It’s a crazy price.
The breeding of James Legend? He is a complete cross - nothing “pure” which is a UK obsession for some and contains the bloodlines of Heremans (Rik), Koopman, Verkerk and Schaerlaeckens.
On Verkerk I mentioned in a recent post the top breeding lines of Sieka. Its amazing the amount of times the family Bas has created crops up and is no coincidence. There are currently grand children and great grandchildren for sale of Sieka and her brothers / sisters on pipa.be
A massive new world record price for a pigeon has been set in China at the annual charity auction of the Pioneer club.
The Pioneer club is a famous pigeon club in China where many multi millionaires compete. The annual auction contains all the best racers from the seasons race programme where a percentage of the proceeds go to Charity.
The Ace pigeon from the programme is a blue cock called “James Legend”. I attach below an extract from the auction report:
The most important and prestigious title there is undoubtedly the Ace Pigeon, which was won in 2018 by James Huang, a Taiwanese businessman, based in Shanghai and in the Pioneer Club represented by Taiwanese top fancier Chen Yong-Shan, who races the pigeons bred by James.
The Ace Pigeon winner 18-791 was renamed "James's Legend", (which he deserves without a doubt) because never before has such an exceptional pigeon flown in the Pioneer Club; Four weeks in a row in the top prizes in four flights of 321 miles (500 km.) in different weather conditions (which contributed to the decrease in the number of basketed pigeons). On his own, "James's Legend" won 7 cars throughout the competition, including a Mercedes G63 worth ca. €150,000.
Besides the Ace Pigeon, James also won the title "Champion Loft" Pioneer 2018, and in total he received the keys of no less than 13 different cars!
On November 20 of this year the auction of the Prize winning pigeons from the Pioneer Club took place, and after a long bidding battle, James could take home his ace pigeon for the unimaginable amount of 22 million Chinese yuan (renminbi), which works out at a cool €2.78 million... An absolute world record!
James Huang himself bought his Ace Pigeon winner back to return to his own loft in the charity auction of all the winners (part of the proceeds is donated to charities). Because of the unrivalled records (both sporting and commercial), he baptized his winner "James's Legend".
James finally wishes to thank everyone for the many messages of congratulations he received.
The pigeon achieved 4 notable results - 1st vs 2510, 6th vs 6589p, 8th vs 7361p and 16th vs 976p.
The losses in these races are remarkably high and they start with around 10,000p so there is no doubt James Legend is a fantastic pigeon. But €2.78 million??? It’s a crazy price.
The breeding of James Legend? He is a complete cross - nothing “pure” which is a UK obsession for some and contains the bloodlines of Heremans (Rik), Koopman, Verkerk and Schaerlaeckens.
On Verkerk I mentioned in a recent post the top breeding lines of Sieka. Its amazing the amount of times the family Bas has created crops up and is no coincidence. There are currently grand children and great grandchildren for sale of Sieka and her brothers / sisters on pipa.be
Preparation
5th December
The preparation for 2019 has been underway for a while and is almost finished.
All pigeons have been vaccinated and undergone a complete test with our vet. Everything as expected was totally clear and no preventative cure will be done prior to pairing. I do believe this is a result of daily use of natural products which we have done for several years.
The lofts have also been fully disinfected, fresh deep litter is down apart from the young bird loft which will be finished over the Christmas period.
The selection took place as soon as the season finished. We are very strict but we will check again to make sure we are satisfied with every pigeon that remains. If everything goes to plan we will have a very nice team of widowhood cocks to race in 2019.
Last year we raced a tiny team of hens but if time permits I will try my best to devote much more time to the old birds.
Young birds has always been my favourite part of the season due to work commitments and I think you can achieve certain results with a motivated team of young birds that couldn’t be achieved with old birds. For example last year in a race from Swindon we had 40 arrive together and clocked 42 pigeons within 90 seconds. I don’t think such a result could be achieved with old birds.
But If luck is on my side and I have time in April we will push harder next year with the widowhood cocks and adding more Nationals to our list of honours is the ultimate aim.
The preparation for 2019 has been underway for a while and is almost finished.
All pigeons have been vaccinated and undergone a complete test with our vet. Everything as expected was totally clear and no preventative cure will be done prior to pairing. I do believe this is a result of daily use of natural products which we have done for several years.
The lofts have also been fully disinfected, fresh deep litter is down apart from the young bird loft which will be finished over the Christmas period.
The selection took place as soon as the season finished. We are very strict but we will check again to make sure we are satisfied with every pigeon that remains. If everything goes to plan we will have a very nice team of widowhood cocks to race in 2019.
Last year we raced a tiny team of hens but if time permits I will try my best to devote much more time to the old birds.
Young birds has always been my favourite part of the season due to work commitments and I think you can achieve certain results with a motivated team of young birds that couldn’t be achieved with old birds. For example last year in a race from Swindon we had 40 arrive together and clocked 42 pigeons within 90 seconds. I don’t think such a result could be achieved with old birds.
But If luck is on my side and I have time in April we will push harder next year with the widowhood cocks and adding more Nationals to our list of honours is the ultimate aim.
New Purchases
1st December
Like everyone we have made some new introductions to the breeding loft for 2019.
I was fairly satisfied with the breeding team over the last few seasons but I wanted to buy some real special hens to complement what we already have. I think it’s important to not let your breeding loft get too old so along with new acquisitions we have moved the best racing hens into the the breeding loft.
For example - two 1st Fed winning sisters from 2017 move to the breeding loft. Also our three best racing hens from the 2018 young bird team will be bred from. I am a huge believer in breeding from yearling hens.
Outside of our racing team, 4 special hens have been brought in. I will write about all of them at a later point but the most recent and last purchase of the winter comes from the world famous champions Gerrard and Bas Verkerk.
A direct daughter of their famous breeding hen “Sieka” will breed here in 2019. It was almost a one off opportunity as Sieka is now 11 years old.
“Sieka” was a fantastic racer herself winning 4 x top 14 NPO prizes and was a top National Ace Pigeon. She is also a full sister of the top racers “Sienna” and “Kate”.
In the breeding loft “Sieka” has been exceptional and is Dam/Gdam of some brilliant racers including:
“Flinstone” - 1st NPO Creil
“727” - 1st NPO Chateauroux
“Ace Isabelle” - 1st Nat Ace LD ESF 2016 & 2017.
“Lizzie” - 2nd Nat Ace Pigeon Long Distance WHZB
“Fantasy” - 5th Nat Ace Pigeon Long Distance WHZB
“Enchanted” - Olympiade candidate 2019 in 3 different categories!!
“Mona Lisa” - 2 x top 10 Acebird and dam of 1st Nat Ace Pigeon Fondspiegel 2016
The list goes on......
You also find a brother of “Sieka” in the pedigree of the current famous racer of Hok Vercammen “Iron Man” a sensational racer in 2018 with 3 x 1st with a huge lead in each race.
We hope to couple her with the father of our 1st National Brussels winner and he is also a brother, son and grandson of a 1st National winner at our lofts.
Like everyone we have made some new introductions to the breeding loft for 2019.
I was fairly satisfied with the breeding team over the last few seasons but I wanted to buy some real special hens to complement what we already have. I think it’s important to not let your breeding loft get too old so along with new acquisitions we have moved the best racing hens into the the breeding loft.
For example - two 1st Fed winning sisters from 2017 move to the breeding loft. Also our three best racing hens from the 2018 young bird team will be bred from. I am a huge believer in breeding from yearling hens.
Outside of our racing team, 4 special hens have been brought in. I will write about all of them at a later point but the most recent and last purchase of the winter comes from the world famous champions Gerrard and Bas Verkerk.
A direct daughter of their famous breeding hen “Sieka” will breed here in 2019. It was almost a one off opportunity as Sieka is now 11 years old.
“Sieka” was a fantastic racer herself winning 4 x top 14 NPO prizes and was a top National Ace Pigeon. She is also a full sister of the top racers “Sienna” and “Kate”.
In the breeding loft “Sieka” has been exceptional and is Dam/Gdam of some brilliant racers including:
“Flinstone” - 1st NPO Creil
“727” - 1st NPO Chateauroux
“Ace Isabelle” - 1st Nat Ace LD ESF 2016 & 2017.
“Lizzie” - 2nd Nat Ace Pigeon Long Distance WHZB
“Fantasy” - 5th Nat Ace Pigeon Long Distance WHZB
“Enchanted” - Olympiade candidate 2019 in 3 different categories!!
“Mona Lisa” - 2 x top 10 Acebird and dam of 1st Nat Ace Pigeon Fondspiegel 2016
The list goes on......
You also find a brother of “Sieka” in the pedigree of the current famous racer of Hok Vercammen “Iron Man” a sensational racer in 2018 with 3 x 1st with a huge lead in each race.
We hope to couple her with the father of our 1st National Brussels winner and he is also a brother, son and grandson of a 1st National winner at our lofts.
In or Out?
23rd November
Next week the SWG fed have a meeting regarding whether or not to pull out of the Welsh Combine. Some clubs are split and from what I understand it’s 50/50 although to force a change a two thirds majority is needed.
The question is, is pulling out of the Welsh Combine the way forward?
There is no doubt that the sport in Wales needs a shake up and it’s been too fragmented for far too long. As with almost everything in modern society self preservation is more important than the bigger picture. We see it at the moment to a certain extent with Brexit and the pigeon sport is no different.
Small organisations taking 300 pigeons every week is only good for the men who sell their birds off the back of it and then people purchasing birds off these fanciers just adds fuel to the problem. They are virtually just big club races and the word National probably shouldn’t be used to describe the winners.
But going back to the SWG fed. It’s a Fed we are proud to be members of. Actually only last year we had to close the books to new clubs as we reached our full allocation. So the first observation is if we broke it up in half and had half the members staying with the other half going off to other federations that can only be a negative.
But I do appreciate the argument from members who want to leave. The idea of flying to 200 miles and then having an open opportunity to fly Nationals without any Federation fees to worry about is very appealing. Factor in the midweek racing it’s really appealing to members like myself if we can’t send due to work commitments and don’t have to pay a “non senders” fee.
Although I do hate the argument pigeon racing is a weekend sport, to me the welfare of the pigeons always comes first.
This was proved correct on the final young bird race when reckless liberations took place on the Saturday with heavy losses where as the Burbure race took place a few days later and it was a cracker. Credit to the organisers and race controller of the WSE National for this.
In my opinion it’s not even a question of being in the WSE Combine or not. The whole sport needs a revamp. I think EVERY fed in Wales should have one joint liberation all together from the first race in April. We can all still have our separate federation results and also a merged one each week and there would be some huge birdage to win against on the total result. Strength in numbers and it would also reduce losses in my opinion.
Once we fly over the channel then we go under the umbrella of the National, everyone in Wales as one. The route is always a sticking point and I totally understand why. Especially over the East it’s more advantageous to fly direct South as the pigeons dog leg on this route and distances become a waste of time. The boys who want to fly the south route still have the BICC races but if everyone compromised, the SE in particular as they are by far the largest National for the greater good then probably we would end up going the S/SE route line to race points like Falaise, Orleans / Le Mans, Bourges etc. I think this would be the fairest solution for everyone.
I really do hope sooner rather than later everyone can fly in harmony, under one umbrella. I don’t think being in or out of the Combine will resolve anything apart from making the sport for SWG members a bit cheaper (certainly not a bad thing!) but at the same time being smaller it might make racing poorer and losses higher. But the sport as a whole needs a revamp rather than the tired format that seems to have never changed. That also includes the race programme although more collaborative liberations would be a great start.
Next week the SWG fed have a meeting regarding whether or not to pull out of the Welsh Combine. Some clubs are split and from what I understand it’s 50/50 although to force a change a two thirds majority is needed.
The question is, is pulling out of the Welsh Combine the way forward?
There is no doubt that the sport in Wales needs a shake up and it’s been too fragmented for far too long. As with almost everything in modern society self preservation is more important than the bigger picture. We see it at the moment to a certain extent with Brexit and the pigeon sport is no different.
Small organisations taking 300 pigeons every week is only good for the men who sell their birds off the back of it and then people purchasing birds off these fanciers just adds fuel to the problem. They are virtually just big club races and the word National probably shouldn’t be used to describe the winners.
But going back to the SWG fed. It’s a Fed we are proud to be members of. Actually only last year we had to close the books to new clubs as we reached our full allocation. So the first observation is if we broke it up in half and had half the members staying with the other half going off to other federations that can only be a negative.
But I do appreciate the argument from members who want to leave. The idea of flying to 200 miles and then having an open opportunity to fly Nationals without any Federation fees to worry about is very appealing. Factor in the midweek racing it’s really appealing to members like myself if we can’t send due to work commitments and don’t have to pay a “non senders” fee.
Although I do hate the argument pigeon racing is a weekend sport, to me the welfare of the pigeons always comes first.
This was proved correct on the final young bird race when reckless liberations took place on the Saturday with heavy losses where as the Burbure race took place a few days later and it was a cracker. Credit to the organisers and race controller of the WSE National for this.
In my opinion it’s not even a question of being in the WSE Combine or not. The whole sport needs a revamp. I think EVERY fed in Wales should have one joint liberation all together from the first race in April. We can all still have our separate federation results and also a merged one each week and there would be some huge birdage to win against on the total result. Strength in numbers and it would also reduce losses in my opinion.
Once we fly over the channel then we go under the umbrella of the National, everyone in Wales as one. The route is always a sticking point and I totally understand why. Especially over the East it’s more advantageous to fly direct South as the pigeons dog leg on this route and distances become a waste of time. The boys who want to fly the south route still have the BICC races but if everyone compromised, the SE in particular as they are by far the largest National for the greater good then probably we would end up going the S/SE route line to race points like Falaise, Orleans / Le Mans, Bourges etc. I think this would be the fairest solution for everyone.
I really do hope sooner rather than later everyone can fly in harmony, under one umbrella. I don’t think being in or out of the Combine will resolve anything apart from making the sport for SWG members a bit cheaper (certainly not a bad thing!) but at the same time being smaller it might make racing poorer and losses higher. But the sport as a whole needs a revamp rather than the tired format that seems to have never changed. That also includes the race programme although more collaborative liberations would be a great start.
Golden 10
6th November
Over the weekend the annual Golden 10 auction took place in Asten organised by De Duif. It was a huge success for the auctioneers and fanciers who sold pigeons with the sale over two days reaching over €1,000,000. The highest price was for a young bird from Gerrard Koopman that sold for more than €52,000. The average price was almost €7,000 per bird.
I’ve been to the event a few times now although I didn’t attend this year. It’s a great event and you get to speak with famous fanciers and I’ve also attended the meal afterwards and the food was excellent, paid for by the organisers. It’s also an experience to witness pigeons being auctioned for such huge prices. Of course the prices are out of reach for most people and nearly all the pigeons go to the Far East. I’ve heard the event described before as “The millionaires ball” which to an extent isn’t far wrong.
The big question, is such an event of benefit to the pigeon sport?
Personally I don’t see any harm in it, the fanciers who buy the pigeons can afford the prices and these types of figures are pocket money to them. Plus if it brings attention to the sport then all the better.
At the Golden 10, ten fanciers from Holland and 10 from Belgium put pigeons into the sale from their best. If the question is are they the best 10 in each country, and are the buyers getting value for money? The answer is no.
An example is the pigeon of Eddy Janssens sold for €43,000. A sister of the winning hens “Thelma” and “Louise”. Two good hens, with good results although personally I can think of plenty of hens close to home with equally as good if not better results.
There is a hen offered by Eddy at a local club sale at present, bred from a full sister to these hens, so the same way bred as the hen that sold for €43,000, and the last time I looked it was going for a very cheap price affordable for anyone. That’s a hell of a difference for a very similar pedigree. You do wonder if some of it is purely for commercial / marketing purposes?
It just proves that you don’t need a big wallet, and you don’t need to spend a fortune to obtain pigeons from great names. Just use common sense, shop around and do your homework and you can end up with a great team of pigeons for very little money.
Over the weekend the annual Golden 10 auction took place in Asten organised by De Duif. It was a huge success for the auctioneers and fanciers who sold pigeons with the sale over two days reaching over €1,000,000. The highest price was for a young bird from Gerrard Koopman that sold for more than €52,000. The average price was almost €7,000 per bird.
I’ve been to the event a few times now although I didn’t attend this year. It’s a great event and you get to speak with famous fanciers and I’ve also attended the meal afterwards and the food was excellent, paid for by the organisers. It’s also an experience to witness pigeons being auctioned for such huge prices. Of course the prices are out of reach for most people and nearly all the pigeons go to the Far East. I’ve heard the event described before as “The millionaires ball” which to an extent isn’t far wrong.
The big question, is such an event of benefit to the pigeon sport?
Personally I don’t see any harm in it, the fanciers who buy the pigeons can afford the prices and these types of figures are pocket money to them. Plus if it brings attention to the sport then all the better.
At the Golden 10, ten fanciers from Holland and 10 from Belgium put pigeons into the sale from their best. If the question is are they the best 10 in each country, and are the buyers getting value for money? The answer is no.
An example is the pigeon of Eddy Janssens sold for €43,000. A sister of the winning hens “Thelma” and “Louise”. Two good hens, with good results although personally I can think of plenty of hens close to home with equally as good if not better results.
There is a hen offered by Eddy at a local club sale at present, bred from a full sister to these hens, so the same way bred as the hen that sold for €43,000, and the last time I looked it was going for a very cheap price affordable for anyone. That’s a hell of a difference for a very similar pedigree. You do wonder if some of it is purely for commercial / marketing purposes?
It just proves that you don’t need a big wallet, and you don’t need to spend a fortune to obtain pigeons from great names. Just use common sense, shop around and do your homework and you can end up with a great team of pigeons for very little money.
Medication
1st November
In my last blog I touched on the fact that we use natural products daily especially in the autumn and winter months to keep the pigeons in perfect health. The only other thing that’s done here is a complete test by our vet 4 weeks before breeding to make sure the pigeons are in perfect health, and the 4 week gap ensures that there is plenty of time to give the pigeons a cure if required. Most of the time nothing is needed although I do give a drop for lice every 6 months so usually this is all that’s done.
I mention the word complete test. It’s important to have your pigeons tested by a proper pigeon vet, rather than the basic test offered for worms, cocci and canker. Most fanciers who observe their pigeons should be able to tell if the above is in play by observing the droppings and handling their pigeons on a regular basis and looking at the throat.
After the moult it seems to be the time when fanciers start to medicate for literally everything before breeding and racing rather than having a complete examination. I think it’s a huge mistake. I hear of local fanciers still suffering from eye problems during the moult and also dropped wings / lumps on the wing joints. Is this a result of over medication of products like Baytril during the season? I I think in some cases it’s true. They have weakened the immune system permanently and the pigeons are becoming worthless. Sadly it seems some then have a big auction and pass on the worthless stock for big money. Keep an eye on the fanciers who go through new family’s every 2 or 3 years and turn up from nowhere on the breeder buyer races. Our old family has been winning since the 90s and they fill every egg into old age and are still winning in 2018. This isn’t possible with too much medication. There are some good videos on YouTube on Wolfgang Roeper from Germany, and excellent fancier who also is of the same opinion.
Don’t rush to the medicine cabinet too quickly, have regular tests with your vet and use only when needed. Always observe your pigeons 365 days a year and most important, select extremely harshly on results and natural health. The pedigree should be the least important factor when selecting.
In my last blog I touched on the fact that we use natural products daily especially in the autumn and winter months to keep the pigeons in perfect health. The only other thing that’s done here is a complete test by our vet 4 weeks before breeding to make sure the pigeons are in perfect health, and the 4 week gap ensures that there is plenty of time to give the pigeons a cure if required. Most of the time nothing is needed although I do give a drop for lice every 6 months so usually this is all that’s done.
I mention the word complete test. It’s important to have your pigeons tested by a proper pigeon vet, rather than the basic test offered for worms, cocci and canker. Most fanciers who observe their pigeons should be able to tell if the above is in play by observing the droppings and handling their pigeons on a regular basis and looking at the throat.
After the moult it seems to be the time when fanciers start to medicate for literally everything before breeding and racing rather than having a complete examination. I think it’s a huge mistake. I hear of local fanciers still suffering from eye problems during the moult and also dropped wings / lumps on the wing joints. Is this a result of over medication of products like Baytril during the season? I I think in some cases it’s true. They have weakened the immune system permanently and the pigeons are becoming worthless. Sadly it seems some then have a big auction and pass on the worthless stock for big money. Keep an eye on the fanciers who go through new family’s every 2 or 3 years and turn up from nowhere on the breeder buyer races. Our old family has been winning since the 90s and they fill every egg into old age and are still winning in 2018. This isn’t possible with too much medication. There are some good videos on YouTube on Wolfgang Roeper from Germany, and excellent fancier who also is of the same opinion.
Don’t rush to the medicine cabinet too quickly, have regular tests with your vet and use only when needed. Always observe your pigeons 365 days a year and most important, select extremely harshly on results and natural health. The pedigree should be the least important factor when selecting.
Natural Approach
23rd October
As mentioned previously as soon as the season ends a 100% natural approach is adopted here and the pigeons are expected to “harden” during the autumn / winters months before breeding.
The selection should already have taken place, and the old birds will be about finished with the young birds well on their way to a perfect moult.
If anyone hasn’t already, now is a perfect time to move over to a natural system.
A natural system takes a while to implement and take effect. It can take several weeks / months. Natural products need to be used very frequently to have any use. Using for example cider vinegar or garlic one or two days a week is fine, but you won’t achieve much benefit of such a product.
For the past few years daily I give a homemade soup that i make using 12 different natural ingredients. This year I’ve added two more - one which I grow in the garden. It’s a simple easy to maintain plant called Nasturtium.
Nasturtium they say the more you treat it badly - the better it grows. I don’t have to do much to maintain it.
Below are some of the benefits of Nasturtium. It’s isn’t the only ingredient that has this effect in the homemade soup - but the pigeons wattles are perfectly white and the throat is lovely and pink with perfectly formed droppings like marbles.
Health Benefits of Nasturtium:
Nasturtium can act, both as a disinfectant and a healing agent. All the parts of nasturtium plant seem to have strong antibiotic as well as antimicrobial properties. It works great against various fungal infections, yeast infections when applied externally.
Benefits Of Nasturtium In Treating Urinary Tract Infections And Infections Of Respiratory Tract
The herb is known to be primarily used as an herbal remedy for urinary tract infections and infections of the respiratory tract.
Respiratory Health Benefits of Nasturtium
Nasturtium leaves are naturally antibiotic and if one leaf is eaten per hour, at the onset of a sore throat, can reduce the severity of the infection in a drastic way. In South America, the leaves of nasturtium are still used for treating cold, coughs, flu, bronchitis, sore throat etc.
Relieves Muscle Pain
There is also another health benefit of nasturtium. It was traditionally used for treating muscular pain. You can use it directly on the skin to treat mild muscle pain.
Immunity Booster:
Nasturtium is a great source of immunity-boosting vitamin C and thus may be used for enhancing immunity, also used as a natural remedy for helping the body overcome and prevent influenza and common cold.
Benefits of Nasturtium in Treating Cuts:
It is also used for reducing external and internal bacterial infections and also for treating minor cuts and scrapes.
Promotes RBCs Formation:
It is known that Nasturtium is beneficial in promoting the formation of the RBCs or the red blood cells and it has been used in folk medicine as an herbal remedy against scurvy.
As mentioned previously as soon as the season ends a 100% natural approach is adopted here and the pigeons are expected to “harden” during the autumn / winters months before breeding.
The selection should already have taken place, and the old birds will be about finished with the young birds well on their way to a perfect moult.
If anyone hasn’t already, now is a perfect time to move over to a natural system.
A natural system takes a while to implement and take effect. It can take several weeks / months. Natural products need to be used very frequently to have any use. Using for example cider vinegar or garlic one or two days a week is fine, but you won’t achieve much benefit of such a product.
For the past few years daily I give a homemade soup that i make using 12 different natural ingredients. This year I’ve added two more - one which I grow in the garden. It’s a simple easy to maintain plant called Nasturtium.
Nasturtium they say the more you treat it badly - the better it grows. I don’t have to do much to maintain it.
Below are some of the benefits of Nasturtium. It’s isn’t the only ingredient that has this effect in the homemade soup - but the pigeons wattles are perfectly white and the throat is lovely and pink with perfectly formed droppings like marbles.
Health Benefits of Nasturtium:
Nasturtium can act, both as a disinfectant and a healing agent. All the parts of nasturtium plant seem to have strong antibiotic as well as antimicrobial properties. It works great against various fungal infections, yeast infections when applied externally.
Benefits Of Nasturtium In Treating Urinary Tract Infections And Infections Of Respiratory Tract
The herb is known to be primarily used as an herbal remedy for urinary tract infections and infections of the respiratory tract.
Respiratory Health Benefits of Nasturtium
Nasturtium leaves are naturally antibiotic and if one leaf is eaten per hour, at the onset of a sore throat, can reduce the severity of the infection in a drastic way. In South America, the leaves of nasturtium are still used for treating cold, coughs, flu, bronchitis, sore throat etc.
Relieves Muscle Pain
There is also another health benefit of nasturtium. It was traditionally used for treating muscular pain. You can use it directly on the skin to treat mild muscle pain.
Immunity Booster:
Nasturtium is a great source of immunity-boosting vitamin C and thus may be used for enhancing immunity, also used as a natural remedy for helping the body overcome and prevent influenza and common cold.
Benefits of Nasturtium in Treating Cuts:
It is also used for reducing external and internal bacterial infections and also for treating minor cuts and scrapes.
Promotes RBCs Formation:
It is known that Nasturtium is beneficial in promoting the formation of the RBCs or the red blood cells and it has been used in folk medicine as an herbal remedy against scurvy.
The Moult
10th October
Now the season is over it’s time for the pigeons to have a much earned rest and come through the moult. The stock / old birds are almost finished and since the races finished 2 weeks ago the young birds are well on their way with daily flights being picked up off the floor.
How important is a good moult? I think now you start to put the plans in place for a good season next year, so for me a good moult is vital. How do you achieve a good moult?
Our system is very simple. I think the first thing is not to scrimp on quality feed now racing is finished. Some people feed the mainstream brands and once racing is over feed a cheap farm mix that can be very basic and dusty. Not all farm mixes are like this some are very good! But a well balanced mix with plenty of protein and a good selection of seeds (fats) to help the feathers grow is important.
By products? I acidify the water every day and a few times a week add a multi-vitamin on top of the acid to the water. Is the latter needed? I’m not so sure as if you feed a good mix the pigeons should get all the essentials from the feed. But I feel like I’ve done everything I can by adding it so I won’t change it now. And thats pretty much it.
One important note is I also open all the ceiling vents and the pigeons have access to plenty of oxygen in the aviaries. This is very important and the pigeons now can harden and toughen up. By doing this it’s easy to spot any weaklings in the group that can’t handle it. These are instantly removed and selected out although from years of strict selection this isn’t the case anymore.
Now the season is over it’s time for the pigeons to have a much earned rest and come through the moult. The stock / old birds are almost finished and since the races finished 2 weeks ago the young birds are well on their way with daily flights being picked up off the floor.
How important is a good moult? I think now you start to put the plans in place for a good season next year, so for me a good moult is vital. How do you achieve a good moult?
Our system is very simple. I think the first thing is not to scrimp on quality feed now racing is finished. Some people feed the mainstream brands and once racing is over feed a cheap farm mix that can be very basic and dusty. Not all farm mixes are like this some are very good! But a well balanced mix with plenty of protein and a good selection of seeds (fats) to help the feathers grow is important.
By products? I acidify the water every day and a few times a week add a multi-vitamin on top of the acid to the water. Is the latter needed? I’m not so sure as if you feed a good mix the pigeons should get all the essentials from the feed. But I feel like I’ve done everything I can by adding it so I won’t change it now. And thats pretty much it.
One important note is I also open all the ceiling vents and the pigeons have access to plenty of oxygen in the aviaries. This is very important and the pigeons now can harden and toughen up. By doing this it’s easy to spot any weaklings in the group that can’t handle it. These are instantly removed and selected out although from years of strict selection this isn’t the case anymore.
End of Season Results
5th October
I haven’t posted any results for a while due to work commitments - but attached below are the results from Maidstone, Hythe and Burbure.
The pigeons certainly kept their best form for last - and this was the aim at the start of the season. Last year they peaked a few weeks too early and maybe the last two races weren’t the best - so this year we adjusted the system to try to win the Nationals. We came ever so close and in the end the south winds were our biggest competitor.
Hythe turned into a few special race. 6 pigeons arrived together, and then another 5 and then the pigeons started dropping from everywhere like rockets. In the end we placed 33 pigeons in the top 40 prizes of the Federation, a new federation record surpassing our feet last season from Maidstone placing 26 pigeons in the top 40 prizes.
Burbure was bittersweet. Due to the south winds I expected the pigeons to arrive after 5 and a half hours. After 5 hours and 3 mins (12:48) one of our best youngsters arrived like a bullet and we made the unforgivable sin of not being ready. I accidentally frightened a pigeon and after a mad dash and rushing to get a dropper we clocked him at 12:50 losing 2 mins. This cost us the 1st National and we ended up being 3rd National but winning 1st Federation and placing 10 pigeons in the first 17. I will never make this mistake again - it’s life and what’s important is you learn and don’t make them again.
Overall it was still a very satisfying season and we are Federation champions again with the young birds (6 times in 8 seasons) with one season not flying at all.
We plan for 2019 and now I have more time I will write much more often.
Well done to all the winners and, especially during the young bird races, well done to the race controllers for keeping a level head and taking no risks when other federations seemed to make reckless decisions.
I haven’t posted any results for a while due to work commitments - but attached below are the results from Maidstone, Hythe and Burbure.
The pigeons certainly kept their best form for last - and this was the aim at the start of the season. Last year they peaked a few weeks too early and maybe the last two races weren’t the best - so this year we adjusted the system to try to win the Nationals. We came ever so close and in the end the south winds were our biggest competitor.
Hythe turned into a few special race. 6 pigeons arrived together, and then another 5 and then the pigeons started dropping from everywhere like rockets. In the end we placed 33 pigeons in the top 40 prizes of the Federation, a new federation record surpassing our feet last season from Maidstone placing 26 pigeons in the top 40 prizes.
Burbure was bittersweet. Due to the south winds I expected the pigeons to arrive after 5 and a half hours. After 5 hours and 3 mins (12:48) one of our best youngsters arrived like a bullet and we made the unforgivable sin of not being ready. I accidentally frightened a pigeon and after a mad dash and rushing to get a dropper we clocked him at 12:50 losing 2 mins. This cost us the 1st National and we ended up being 3rd National but winning 1st Federation and placing 10 pigeons in the first 17. I will never make this mistake again - it’s life and what’s important is you learn and don’t make them again.
Overall it was still a very satisfying season and we are Federation champions again with the young birds (6 times in 8 seasons) with one season not flying at all.
We plan for 2019 and now I have more time I will write much more often.
Well done to all the winners and, especially during the young bird races, well done to the race controllers for keeping a level head and taking no risks when other federations seemed to make reckless decisions.
References
4th October
I mentioned in an earlier post we would breed a small team of young birds for Ian and Alan Evans and these would be raced in Aberbargoed in the Rhymney club in the WNR fed.
I haven’t written too much about it yet but Ian and Alan raced very well and won 8 x 1st in 9 races entered. It was a great first season result and hopefully we can build on this and try and win even more first prizes in 2019. Congratulations to both Ian and his Dad!
I mentioned in an earlier post we would breed a small team of young birds for Ian and Alan Evans and these would be raced in Aberbargoed in the Rhymney club in the WNR fed.
I haven’t written too much about it yet but Ian and Alan raced very well and won 8 x 1st in 9 races entered. It was a great first season result and hopefully we can build on this and try and win even more first prizes in 2019. Congratulations to both Ian and his Dad!
Newbury 2
31st August
Last weekend we raced again from Newbury, the second time in 4 days.
The pigeons improved from their first flight and we managed to take 9 of the top 10 prizes with 14 pigeons arriving together.
The winner is bred by Richard Shepard of Rasbull lofts. 27 has been a very consistent pigeon already taking 4 top 15 prizes, so this was a well deserved win.
The pigeons are starting to take shape and look like the team of 2017 after the “fat eye” outbreak which still seems to be decimating some fanciers in Wales and England.
This weekend we race from Epsom. The wind is SE which is no good for our location, but better to have it this week before the big races start!
Last weekend we raced again from Newbury, the second time in 4 days.
The pigeons improved from their first flight and we managed to take 9 of the top 10 prizes with 14 pigeons arriving together.
The winner is bred by Richard Shepard of Rasbull lofts. 27 has been a very consistent pigeon already taking 4 top 15 prizes, so this was a well deserved win.
The pigeons are starting to take shape and look like the team of 2017 after the “fat eye” outbreak which still seems to be decimating some fanciers in Wales and England.
This weekend we race from Epsom. The wind is SE which is no good for our location, but better to have it this week before the big races start!
Newbury
23rd August
On Tuesday we raced from Newbury. It was a very patchy race with overcast / poor visibility.
I have I admit I was apprehensive to send as nearly all my young birds were having their first race. Our pigeons have suffered with the “fat eye” and it’s set out plans back by 2-3 weeks.
But, the first timers performed very admirably, I was very proud of them considering the poor preparation. We finished taking the first 16 prizes with an 8 min lead over our nearest competitor. We had four arrive together, 3 of them grandchildren of the number one breeding couple “Snow Queen (Embregts Theunis) x Son De Orleans (Jan Van Der Putten)” and a grizzle cock bred by Rene Vervoort in Belgium.
I have just found out the programme has been put back a week and we fly again from Newbury on the weekend. I hate to criticise the decision makers as they give their time for free but I think the race controlling and the way the programme has been handled in the past 4 weeks has been extremely poor. Lets hope for a more common sense approach over the next 4 weeks and some better races.
On Tuesday we raced from Newbury. It was a very patchy race with overcast / poor visibility.
I have I admit I was apprehensive to send as nearly all my young birds were having their first race. Our pigeons have suffered with the “fat eye” and it’s set out plans back by 2-3 weeks.
But, the first timers performed very admirably, I was very proud of them considering the poor preparation. We finished taking the first 16 prizes with an 8 min lead over our nearest competitor. We had four arrive together, 3 of them grandchildren of the number one breeding couple “Snow Queen (Embregts Theunis) x Son De Orleans (Jan Van Der Putten)” and a grizzle cock bred by Rene Vervoort in Belgium.
I have just found out the programme has been put back a week and we fly again from Newbury on the weekend. I hate to criticise the decision makers as they give their time for free but I think the race controlling and the way the programme has been handled in the past 4 weeks has been extremely poor. Lets hope for a more common sense approach over the next 4 weeks and some better races.
Swindon x 2
14th August
After some race cancellations and a spell of extremely bad weather we managed to have two races from Swindon in a 5 day period.
Since the last race from Hullavington, where the birds performed sensational our loft has suffered with the fat eye problem. Thankfully it has now completely left the loft but until the problem had gone I have only been basketting pigeons that had fully recovered from it. It meant 35 pigeons were basketted and 65 remained at home.
It has been a very frustrating 2 weeks but the positive is it has come and gone before the important races have begun. But it has set us back a bit. We are left with 65 unraced pigeons so now we rely on a bit of luck.
One point on the fat eye - what has been the most disappointing aspect is that fanciers are basketting pigeons with no regard for others. Mine picked up the problem from other pigeons. I have counted at least 5 pigeons in every crate in my own club with the issue before I have even placed my own in the basket. Fanciers then blame the race controller for losses when the answer is right in front of them.
What I have found does help is either Clinagel Vet ointment or 0.5% optrex infected eye drops. It just helps resolve the problem a little quicker.
The last race we managed to take the 1st, 2nd and 4th prize.
Both pigeons clocked at exactly the same second.
The winner is a double grandson of “Snow Queen”, and a direct son of the 7th National Hythe.
The second pigeon is from the pigeons of Nick & Roger Thijs x the original imports of Henri Van Doorn from the Chrisje line.
The 4th prize I was particularly pleased with. He is a grandson of the world famous Super Rossi x a hen of Ad Schaerlaeckens. This cock was having his first race and hadn’t actually been in the training basket for 10 days.
These pigeons prefer a head wind - I hope these conditions will stay for the remainder of the season!
After some race cancellations and a spell of extremely bad weather we managed to have two races from Swindon in a 5 day period.
Since the last race from Hullavington, where the birds performed sensational our loft has suffered with the fat eye problem. Thankfully it has now completely left the loft but until the problem had gone I have only been basketting pigeons that had fully recovered from it. It meant 35 pigeons were basketted and 65 remained at home.
It has been a very frustrating 2 weeks but the positive is it has come and gone before the important races have begun. But it has set us back a bit. We are left with 65 unraced pigeons so now we rely on a bit of luck.
One point on the fat eye - what has been the most disappointing aspect is that fanciers are basketting pigeons with no regard for others. Mine picked up the problem from other pigeons. I have counted at least 5 pigeons in every crate in my own club with the issue before I have even placed my own in the basket. Fanciers then blame the race controller for losses when the answer is right in front of them.
What I have found does help is either Clinagel Vet ointment or 0.5% optrex infected eye drops. It just helps resolve the problem a little quicker.
The last race we managed to take the 1st, 2nd and 4th prize.
Both pigeons clocked at exactly the same second.
The winner is a double grandson of “Snow Queen”, and a direct son of the 7th National Hythe.
The second pigeon is from the pigeons of Nick & Roger Thijs x the original imports of Henri Van Doorn from the Chrisje line.
The 4th prize I was particularly pleased with. He is a grandson of the world famous Super Rossi x a hen of Ad Schaerlaeckens. This cock was having his first race and hadn’t actually been in the training basket for 10 days.
These pigeons prefer a head wind - I hope these conditions will stay for the remainder of the season!
Great Start
28th July
Last weekend we basketted 20 young pigeons for the race from Hullavington.
It turned out to be a fantastic result. We had 14 of our 20 entries arrive together with 2 more close behind. In the club we managed to 17 of the top 18 prizes and below is the Federation result. Against 1,011p we won 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th etc.
We missed the 1st Federation by 2 secs and we lost over 1 minute on the pigeons but that’s racing. The team result for me is far more important.
The 1st prize is a direct child of “Super 268” from Jan Van Der Putten. The mother comes from the Cannonball line of Peter Theunis and is a winner of 2 x 1st prizes for us.
The 2nd prize is a from a cock from Peter Theunis x a daughter of 1st National Maidstone.
The 3rd prize comes from Richard Shepard from Rasbull lofts. It’s a half brother of 4th National Burbure 2018 for Alan Winder. Richard has some excellent pigeons and gave us a batch to try this year.
The 4th, 5th and 6th prize are all grandchildren of our number one breeder “Snow Queen” who is the mother of 1st National Maidstone.
The race this week has been cancelled due to bad weather so we prepare them now for a race next weekend. My main team of 80 young birds should hopefully be ready for this race if we can get 2 or 3 more training sessions in during the week.
Last weekend we basketted 20 young pigeons for the race from Hullavington.
It turned out to be a fantastic result. We had 14 of our 20 entries arrive together with 2 more close behind. In the club we managed to 17 of the top 18 prizes and below is the Federation result. Against 1,011p we won 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th etc.
We missed the 1st Federation by 2 secs and we lost over 1 minute on the pigeons but that’s racing. The team result for me is far more important.
The 1st prize is a direct child of “Super 268” from Jan Van Der Putten. The mother comes from the Cannonball line of Peter Theunis and is a winner of 2 x 1st prizes for us.
The 2nd prize is a from a cock from Peter Theunis x a daughter of 1st National Maidstone.
The 3rd prize comes from Richard Shepard from Rasbull lofts. It’s a half brother of 4th National Burbure 2018 for Alan Winder. Richard has some excellent pigeons and gave us a batch to try this year.
The 4th, 5th and 6th prize are all grandchildren of our number one breeder “Snow Queen” who is the mother of 1st National Maidstone.
The race this week has been cancelled due to bad weather so we prepare them now for a race next weekend. My main team of 80 young birds should hopefully be ready for this race if we can get 2 or 3 more training sessions in during the week.
