Different thinking (21-02-25)
M and S disagree on many things. That doesn't lead to arguments or conflicts, on the contrary, sometimes to fun. M thinks the same as I do with races with a strong tail wind. 'Then the really good ones perform too. After all, these races demand more from the ability to orientate, perhaps the most important characteristic of a good pigeon.'
S finds it 'Lucky flights.' Thinking differently? So what? Isn't a problem for sure.
SUPPLEMENTS
Another point of discussion were by-products, i.e. supplements. My idea? 'If you believe in it, definitely give.' I myself (still) believe in very little.
In the long distance then?
'By-products zero point zero' claims coming man Sil van Vliet.
Taken from his teacher Verkerk? Also top players such as Jellema, Theelen, v d Wegen and Volkens do or did not believe in supplements.
'Pigeons also have a taste, but they can't tell if they don't like the food because of the supplements attached to it. What they do then is what people would do. Not eating or eating less of it. And that is the very last thing you want as a fancier and certainly as a long distance racer', says Jellema.
'BEST'
In 2023 and 2024 many considered Verkerk and Leideman as the best in the Netherlands. They won Gold and Silver in the Golden Pigeon competition 2024.
Incidentally, 'the best' is a very elastic and dangerous expression.
You have to be careful with those words.
I myself don't dare to name 'five best'. Not from the Netherlands and not from Belgium. Not about 2024 and not about the last few years. After all, what also weighs heavily is the strength of the competition. It allows, or rather determines, how strong you can or cannot perform.
A good result does not mean much to me. I need to know in which competition it was achieved. The town of Tilburg used to have numerous pigeon clubs. One was known to be very strong, another to be very weak. A sensational result in that weak club usually had little meaning if the 'fancier' in question would have played in that strong club. 'Names' are also relative. Belgian Sprint man Herman Bevers got 5 birds from the unknown Jochems van Goubergen. They were all five fantastic.
ALSO STRIKING
Verkerk and Lossignol were Golden Pigeon winners in 2024 for resp. The Netherlands and Belgium. They were in 2020 too!
When Verkerk, not a man of supplements himself, asked Lossignol what he thought about that, he had doubts. He believed in them but when ran out of supplements once the pigeons continued to perform just as well.
Bas lives in Reeuwijk Netherlands and Belgian Lossignol performs with ‘Reeuwijk pigeons’ from the neighbor of Bas.
It is not surprising that the races in that province often take place at a rapid pace. It reminds me of that email from that Limburg guy that I saved: 'There is rubbish in Z H, otherwise Verkerk cannot excel so much.' And it is reminiscent of many Belgians from earlier years. 'In Holland they basket everything that moves. Junk! They should come and play here', you often heard. They can praise the heavens that some northern neighbors do not do so.
You often read about 'champions' who play in a 'very strong center'. Or in a region 'where competition is fierce'. 'But I was in a good position that flight that I won’ you rarely read or hear.
What many Belgians have to watch out for are those group releases of sometimes less than 1,000 pigeons every 10 minutes. It will greatly weaken the quality in the longer term.
Nestmate 318 was 2nd Ace. Two nest mates that are good racers are mostly good breeders as well.
WASTE
'Emile' (not the real name) is both an ex-student and a pigeon fancier.
Some years ago his results were so poor that he asked me to pay him a visit. Maybe I could help him.
I had taken two youngsters from my loft, put them in a box and put that box in the car before I drove to him. But what a turn-off that was. He did wrong what he could do wrong and would not be able to win a decent prize with the best pigeons in the world. I considered myself lucky that I had left the box containing my present in the car. Because also with those birds he would fail and since failures ‘were never his fault’.
WRONG
His biggest mistake was and is, because when you are older than 50 you don't change easily, his biggest mistake is that he loves pigeons too much.
Pigeon sport is a ‘selection sport’ and if there is one thing he cannot do, it is selecting. There is never any culling, only more birds year after year.
He had about ten so-called breeding couples and not even one good racer.
No good racers but several breeders, is a combination that rarely leads to anything.
It is best to start with some foster pigeons to under put eggs from well-meaning fellow fanciers. Race the birds later, then select with the results as a grader.
You can also start flying right away. But then with free or cheap pigeons. You only invest when you have proven that you can handle and race pigeons well.
MYSELF
How differently I behaved.
As long as I have been a fancier I looked for pigeons that could be taken out every time I entered the loft. Being overly afraid, being big and heavy, hard feathers, no balance and certainly a lesser health were often reasons enough for a ticket to pigeon heaven.
Every crap less in the loft gave me a good feeling. Fellow sportsmen who said 'I would never dare what you do' didn't keep saying that. Of course, with such a selection you make mistakes, but very rarely.
Those who do not tolerate pigeons with a faltering natural health in their loft do not make mistakes.
