With Peter Pillet, we meet one of the new young marathon talents who is making his first appearance on the national stage. Peter was born into a true pigeon racing family, and his father is also a well-known fancier in the Ninove region. The nicest part of the whole story is the very first thing Peter said to me when I visited him: “I’m so happy that my dad was here to keep an eye on the pigeons and that we were able to experience this unique moment together. It was my dad who spotted her first. I was watching in the wrong direction. We had seen the first arrivals in France and noticed that those pigeons were flying on ‘our line’. Of course, we never imagined we would clock the national winner, but we were hoping for a nice result at local level. Then, five minutes before 10 p.m., ‘Marie’ appeared, heading straight for the landing board.”

“Marie” (B25-4024977) recorded an average speed of 1,023.49 m/min, placing her at the top of the provisional national ranking. When darkness fell and the neutralisation period started, “Marie” was still in first place. “I don’t have to explain that it became a sleepless night for me. Would someone, at a greater distance, still clock a pigeon early the next morning? I can assure you that I refreshed the results page countless times.”

First international race from the new address

Peter has always kept pigeons and has consistently held his own in the sport. However, when he moved to his new home in 2023, he decided to spend one more season racing long-distance events before fully focusing on the international races. To achieve that goal, he invested in pigeons from Jo Ronsijn (Appelterre), and today around 80% of his colony consists of Ronsijn pigeons. It is certainly not the first time that Ronsijn pigeons have excelled in other lofts. The remaining 20% consists of pigeons from various fanciers, with his latest investments coming from Christiaens-De Smet (Pamel) and Maarten Deboe (Schendelbeke).

“In fact, Agen was the very first international race that I entered from my new address, and for me personally it turned into an unforgettable edition.”

A stubborn lady

Peter continues: “At the start of the 2026 season, I began with a team of 6 old pigeons and 26 yearlings. As part of their preparation, they raced three times from Noyon, followed by Valpuiseaux, Orléans, Valpuiseaux again, then the National Bourges and the National Argenton.

For the National Bourges, the pigeons had been sitting for about ten days. Afterwards, the nests were broken up and the birds were re-paired so that they would be sitting ten days on eggs for the Agen International. With the exception of two Barcelona pigeons, the entire team was basketed for Agen.

Now here comes the remarkable part: my national winner ‘Marie’ is an incredibly stubborn hen. She was one of the very few hens that simply refused to pair. She raced both National Bourges and National Argenton while staying on her perch. I had to move heaven and earth to get her paired, so for Agen she was sitting on her very first eggs ever. That probably gave her the ultimate motivation to go all the way.

The father of ‘Marie’ comes directly from Jo Ronsijn, while her mother is a daughter of ‘Mr. Fit’ from Jacky De Bruijne, whom I purchased through a Pigeon Bids internet auction on the Herbots website.”

System

As for feeding, Versele-Laga Black Label mixtures are on the menu. Peter explains: “I simply took the feeding schedule from their ‘Guide’ brochure and follow it to the letter.”

Regarding supplements, fresh grit, Vi-Spu-Min and Vitamineral are provided every day (sometimes twice a day), while the drinking water regularly contains Tea + Hepatoveto and garlic juice.

Whether he trains the pigeons extensively by road between races? “Well,” Peter replies, “on the one hand I follow Dirk Christiaens’ system, and he advises only one extra training toss on the Saturday before basketing. On the other hand, I often talk with Maarten Deboe, and Maarten trains his pigeons on the road a great deal. I had to make a choice, and I decided to follow Dirk’s advice. So they were only released once more on the Saturday before basketing.

They did, however, have to train twice a day for at least one hour, and sometimes up to one and a half hours. And by training, I don’t mean simply circling around the loft. No, the group had to fly with real speed and intensity. Only during the extreme heat did they train exclusively in the morning.

The next race will most likely be Narbonne International, but first I want to see whether the condition remains at the same level. Their daily training flights will tell me that. As for ‘Marie’, she will never again see the inside of a transport basket. She has earned her own breeding box in the stock loft.”

"Marie"
BE25-4024977
1st National Agen 5,526 yearbirds
Fastest of 9,809 birds

Distance: 803km
Velocity: 1,023 m/m

Stefan Mertens