The pigeon racing season is halfway through, and the combination of Hennie La Grouw / Piet Schutte and the loft of Hennie La Grouw senior have every reason to be satisfied. After earlier victories this year – including the fastest of 2,993 pigeons at Châteaudun and a magnificent double (1st and 2nd) at Pontoise against 6,608 pigeons in Section 6 – Hennie and Piet struck hard again this weekend.

They occupied the entire podium in the first young bird race from Roosendaal (Division 6, Circle 4). But that was not all: no fewer than 17 of their pigeons finished in the top 25! 

Roosendaal 101 km

• Division 6 section 4 against 2546 pigeons: 1-2-3-5-6-7-10-11-12-13-14-16-18-19-21-23-25-31-33-34-35-46-49 -50-51-52-53-55-56-57-58-60-63-64-65-67-68-69-72-73-74-77-78-92-95-96-97-98-99 etc. 114 prizes out of 149
• Division 6 against 10,382 pigeons: 8-11-12-81-82-83-90-91-92-93-94-99-106-116-129-133-162-291-300-301-312 etc. 89 prizes out of 149

Hennie senior also made his mark: earlier this season, he won from Fontenay, where he was the first to clock against 960 pigeons.

The first championships of Section 6 are now known. In Circle 4, La Grouw/Schutte and Senior immediately made their mark.

La Grouw/Schutte won:

•    1st Unassigned Middle Distance

•    1st Assigned Middle Distance

•    7th Unassigned Sprint

Senior scored:

•    1st Assigned Sprint

•    2nd Unassigned Middle Distance

•    3rd Unassigned Sprint 

At the division level, this also resulted in impressive rankings:

•    La Grouw/Schutte: 2nd Designated Middle Distance and 3rd Undesignated Middle Distance

•    Senior: 1st Designated Sprint and 6th Undesignated Middle Distance

You can certainly call that a flying start!

How it all began – the La Grouw pigeon family

The family started breeding carrier pigeons in the early 1970s, under the name La Grouw. Hennie junior became involved at a young age, around ten years old. His grandfather, his brother B. la Grouw-Zandvoort, his uncles (Gebr. la Grouw from Amsterdam), his father H. la Grouw Sr. from Putten (Gelderland): they all had or still have carrier pigeons. So he caught the pigeon bug early on, and that's how his own story began: the Hennie la Grouw story, at the age of twelve.

Together with his grandfather Steef la Grouw Sr., Hennie Jr. flew late youngsters in the Van Speijkstraat, which his father (H. la Grouw Sr.) had purchased for him from Wegman and Offerman in Haarlem. Both had excellent Janssen pigeons, great flyers, but their range was limited to about 300 kilometres.

Because Hennie Jr. had always had a preference for the one-day long distance, he started looking for stronger pigeons. After his grandfather's death in 1985, his brother Steef la Grouw joined him. Together they formed the Gebr. la Grouw combination and achieved good results.

In 1995, his brother lost motivation and they decided to sell most of the pigeons. However, he still felt the urge to continue and in 1996 he went it alone.

A year earlier, in 1995, they had already travelled to Louis van Loon in Poppel. There they acquired twenty direct Van Loon pigeons, a crucial step, because that is where the real success story began. Each and every one of them were grandchildren of De Blauwe van '84.

In 2000, pigeons from Co Verbree in Putten were added, then known for NL97-5774230 “Olympic Orlando” (Best all-round pigeon in the Netherlands 2001), NL97-2524534 “Olympic Zigo” (2nd NL Olympiad pigeon Middle Distance 2001); two Olympiad pigeons that represented the Netherlands at the Olympiad in South Africa.

In 2009, another special reinforcement followed: a son from Son Allissa-Bulldozer from the G&B Verkerk family.

When the Verkerk pigeons proved so successful, Hennie acquired five additional pigeons from Verkerk in 2012, and they too immediately produced results. To further strengthen the stock, they travelled to Ruud and Dolf Bakker in Zoelen in 2017 and 2020, where they acquired a dozen top pigeons from their best lines. Over the past two years, pigeons from Mike & Henk van de Haar (Voorthuizen), the Leideman brothers and no fewer than ten directly from the Van den Brande brothers have also been added. Since 2020, they have appeared forty times on Teletext, in the official NPO races in the Netherlands.

Since 2020, they have been in the top ten forty times and have certainly won twenty victories.

The breeding pigeons have been in the hands of senior La Grouw for many years, with great success. All top lines come from his loft in Putten. Piet Schutte joined two years ago. This was after the death of his father Jan, with whom he won the Golden Pigeon of the Netherlands in 2015. Piet is a huge support for the racing loft and also breeds a limited number of pigeons at his home. They fit them into their racing loft. Incidentally, 60 to 70% of his breeding pigeons carry La Grouw blood.

Two place names appear on the results: Amsterdam and Putten. So why do they mention it as one loft? Simple: it is actually one loft. Or rather, two lofts in exactly the same location and with the same flying distance. Let's clarify.

In Amsterdam, there is a 12-metre loft: 6 metres for the old birds, 6 metres for the youngsters, and another 2.5-metre loft for the young birds from Putten. In Putten itself, where Senior lives, only the breeders remain. Due to persistent problems with birds of prey, it was decided a few years ago to stop racing and only breed.

Because the NPO uses the fancier's place of residence for the results, some pigeons are registered in the senior's name. However, they all fly from Amsterdam. This allows the senior to race a team of pigeons, even though they are all from the same loft.

The old pigeons are raced on double widowhood. The young birds stay together and are raced from the NPO flights on the door. Their training began on 15 April, with weekly training flights — about ten times, each time five kilometres further. After that, they fly the entire young bird programme. Hennie Jr. thinks it is crucial that they are ready for the first flight.

After the training phase, the young birds train in the morning (before Hennie starts work as a house painter) and are taken another 20 km by car every week, preferably on Thursdays. Before basketing, they are brought together for an hour; after returning home, they normally stay together until the next day.

The boys move from Putten to Amsterdam, receive their paramyxovirus vaccination at the vet and are then darkened until 21 June. From 21 July onwards, they are given additional lighting.

Nutrition

The basic feed comes from Van Tilburg in Baarle-Nassau. For the longer long-distance flights, they supplement this with Koopman All-in-One from Beyers. ‘This year, I am also experimenting with a mixture from Ruud Bakker, which is now produced by the Robaeys company,’ says Hennie. Whether this will bring extra success remains to be seen, but the pigeons already love it.

After arrival, they are given Belgasol in their drinking water. Food follows about an hour later, when everything has calmed down again. Feeding is done by feel, but always in sufficient quantities: starting with a light mixture, which becomes heavier towards basketing. Peanuts, hemp, candy seeds — everything is available.

Medically, they are supervised by veterinarian Göbel-van der Sluis in the Netherlands and, of course, by veterinarian De Weert from Breda. Four weeks before the first flight, there is a weekly check-up at the vet. During autumn and winter, no medication is given, only supplements such as brewer's yeast and vitamins. If the season is going well, further visits to the vet are usually not necessary.

Some great results 2024-2025 La Grouw/Schutte

Pont St Maxence 379km

• 1397 pigeons section 4: 1-2-3-4-5-6-8-9-11-13-14-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-27-30-34-38-40-41-53-56-57-58-59-60-69-71-72-89-101-105-107-110-111-113-119-120-129 etc. 87 prizes out of 141
• 4373 pigeons National division 6 : 1-2-3-4-5-6-8-9-11-15-17-20-21-23-24-25-26-29-34-40-49-55-60-62-81-85-86-88-89-91-102-104-105-142-167-171-173-176-177-179-195-196-213-237-240-242-247-273-280-291-295-299-301-305-312-322-323-329-330-337-347-358-367-368-372 etc. 96 prizes out of 141

Molincourt-Noyon 340km

• 1720 pigeons section 4: 1-2-4-8-10-12-17-19-20-21-31-33-35-42-43-44-45-46-51-52-59-68-72-77-81-93-94-97-98-99-100-116-120-122-123-129-151-153-154-162 etc. 78 prizes out of 147
• 7410 pigeons division 6: 1-5-9-24-26-31-44-47-50-51-81-83-92-105-106-108-111-113-124-125-144-170-178-195-205-236-237-242-250-253-255-316-327-334-335-344-448-451-452-487-677-692-694-700 etc. 80 prizes out of 147

Pontoise 416km

• 2081 pigeons section 4: 1-2-14-17-62-84-88-89-102-103-114-125-132-150-168-169-172 etc. 32 prizes out of 72
• 6608 pigeons division 6: 1-2-33-42-186-246-252-253-289-293-330-400-424-487-535-536-542 etc.  32 prizes out of 72

Oudenaarde 194km

• 2287 pigeons section 4: 1-2-9-10-16-18-19-21-22-26-27-29-32-34-43-51-53-55-57-62-63-67-68-75-87-92-98-101-104-105-112-113-115-117-119-126-127-130-135-137-139-144-150-154-159-166-171-176-179-182-198-217-218-227 etc. 106 prizes out of 160
• 10556 pigeons division 6: 7-9-60-62-92-113-115-128-129-143-148-161-193-212-273-300-309-317-354-380-389-429-435-470-542-565-598 etc. 98 prizes out of 160

St-Soupplets 400km

• 2250 pigeons national division 6: 1-2-5-9-32-34-38-50-54-61-74-77-78-81-85-87-111-114-124-167-172-194-195-199-205-213-216-220 etc. 69 prizes out of 119
• 681 pigeons section 4 : 1-2-3-5-8-10-13-17-23-26-27-28-29 etc. 69 prizes out of 119

Chateaudun 541km

• 1543 pigeons division south: 1-8-12-13-23-33-35-47-53-54-71-152 etc. 17 prizes out of  25 
• 2993 pigeons division 6: 1-8-16-20-40-55-57-75-82-83-116-249-266 etc. 17 prizes out of 25

Duffel 146km

• 2687 pigeons section 4: 1-4-5-7-9-15-16-19-21-22-27-34-36-42-45-50-65-73-74-76-77-80-82-83-88-89-92-93-98-99-109-123-124-130-150-154-162-175-176-177-178-182-209-221-225-236-239-240-242-244-246-248-253-259-263-264-269 etc. 120 prizes out of 169
• 12110 pigeons division 6: 1-33-35-115-131-242-246-274-323-331-409-481-487-516-541-599-747-850-857-875-883-903-915-935-972-974 etc. 90 prizes out of 169

Morlincourt-Noyon 340km

• 1243 pigeons section 4: 1-3-4-6-7-8-10-11-13-14-15-17-18-19-22-23-24-25-27-29-30-35-37-38-39-40-41-49-52-53-56-57-58-59-60-61-62-63-64-66-67-70-78-85-87-92-93-106-110-114-115 etc. 86 prizes out of 136
• 3996 pigeons division 6: 3-7-8-24-25-26-36-46-49-67-69-72-75-77-82-84-85-87-91-101-103-129-141-145-147-149-153-180-190-192-207-209-210-211-212-213-214-219-220-230-232-248-284-313-319-339-341-386-396 etc. 84 prizes out of 136

Pontoise 416km

• 2048 pigeons section 4: 2-8-27-36-55-80-83-132-180 etc. 18 prizes out of 35
• 7040 pigeons division 6: 3-21-69-108-146-231-239-370-497 etc. 19 prizes out of 35

Niergnies 274km

• 1916 pigeons section 4: 2-5-7-8-9-14-16-17-18-21-22-23-24-26-29-32-36-37-38-39-40-41-46-55-56-57-61-62-63-64-66-69-70-72-93-94-96-97-101-103-104-106-107-109-111-117-118-126-127-128-130-132-133-137-141-142-145-149-150-151-153-159-171-182-184 etc. 106 prizes out of 147
• 8365 pigeons division 6: 3-9-15-16-20-34-36-37-38-42-45-47-49-72-78-86-119-121-125-128-138-141-150-213-214-215-226-229-234-236-249-252-266-272-344-347-355-358-364-366-370-373-378-386-393-431-433-464-465 etc. 103 prizes out of 147

Roosendaal 101km

• 1791 pigeons section 4A: 6-9-10-17-18-19-21-29-31-32-50-80-81-83-84-90-108-110-135-137-138-142-146-162-176-177 etc. 67 prizes out of 92
• 3557 pigeons section 4: 6-9-10-17-18-19-21-29-31-32-50-84-85-88-89-96-116-118-151-153-154-159-163-184-203-204-231-263-264-270-272-273-278-282-283-286-290-311-330-336-339-348 etc. 78 prizes out of 92

Issoudun 638 km 

• 2660 pigeons division 6: 8-72-102-114-122-158-176 etc. 12 prizes out of 21
• 791 pigeons section 4: 4-19-28-30-35-45-48-49-69 etc. 12 prizes out of 21

Lennik 183km

• 1833 pigeons section 4A: 8-15-17-19-21-37-40-59-60-66-74-76-78-95-96-97-99-100-102-104-120-122-124-139-149-150-151-155-162 etc. 57 prizes out of 89
• 3834 pigeons section 4: 8-16-18-20-22-41-44-67-68-76-85-87-89-106-107-108-110-111-113-115-132-134-136-153-167-168-169-174-181-228-229-239-244-245-255-269-276-320-321-382-383 etc. 64 prizes out of 89

Morlincourt-Noyon 340km

• 1547 pigeons section4A: 7-11-13-20-22-24-27-31-38-39-42-43-45-46-47-48-49-50-59-60-69-76-79-81-83-85-92-102-118-119-133-138-148-150 etc. 64 prizes out of 82
• 3328 pigeons section 4: 7-12-15-22-24-26-29-35-42-43-46-47-49-50-51-52-53-54-66-67-76-83-86-89-91-94-102-113-134-135-153-159-178-180-202-206-212-228-247-248-258-259-276-286-297-299-300-304-306-328-330 etc. 67 prizes out of 82

Hennie La Grouw Senior also achieved impressive results at the same location. With a smaller team of pigeons, he regularly gave Junior La Grouw and Piet Schutte a run for their money.

Results Hennie La Grouw Senior:

Issoudun 638 km 

• 2660pigeons Division 6: 1-9-196  3 prizes out of 10
• 791 pigeons Section 4: 1-5-50  3 prizes out of 10

Morlincourt 340km 

• 6262 pigeons Divison 6: 1-2-172-273-279-388 etc. 20 prizes out of 27
• 1761 pigeons section 4: 1-2-52-76-78-100 etc. 21 prizes out of 27

Duffel  146 km 

• 12110 pigeons division 6: 23-25-40-138-216 etc. 16 prizes out of 30
• 2687 pigeons section 4: 2-3-6-11-13-94-100 etc. 18 prizes out of 30

Lennik 182 km 

• 7593 pigeosn division 6: 2-6-20-21-22-253-283-295-401-921 etc.10 prizes out of 10
• 2061 pigeons section 4: 2-4-12-13-14-148-163 etc. 10 prizes out of 10

Sainte Maure de Tour 662 km 

• 3148 pigeons division 6: 2-95-140-288-361 etc. 7 prizes out of 10
• 918 pigeons section 4: 1-27-42-84-100 etc. 7 prizes out of 10

Pont st maxence 379 km 

• 4373 pigeons division 6: 7-19-53-82-92-98-103-168-178-180 etc. 20 prizes out of 28
• 1397 pigeons section 4: 7-15-36-54-61-65-70-102 etc. 17 prizes out of 28

Roosendaal 101km

• 1791 pigeons section 4A: 3-4-23-26-52-77-85-103-106-109-111-129 etc. 20 prizes out of 30
• 3557 pigeons section 4: 3-4-23-26-52-79-91-111-114-117-119-143-268-313-314 etc. 21 prizes out of 30

Pontoise 416km

• 2081 pigeons section 4: 3-5-6-46-52 etc. 15 prizes out of 25
• 6608 pigeons division 6: 5-12-14-133-153-660 etc. 15 prizes out of 25

Duffel 146km

• 2234 pigeons section 4: 1-2-65-86-87-162-208-210 etc. 10 prizes out of 10
• 8121 pigeons division 6: 2-3-205-282-557 enz. 10 prizes out of 10

Quievrain 235km

• 1717 pigeons section 4A: 2-8-11-12-25-29-30-31-33-66-118-140 etc. 24 prizes out of 30
• 3815 pigeons section 4: 2-8-11-12-25-29-30-31-33-68-131-158-245-255-258 etc. 26 prizes out of 30

Fontenay 505km

• 960 pigeons section 4: 1-40-49-62-84-159   6 prizes out of 10
• 4062 pigeons section 6: 3-136-190-226-357-657   6 prizes out of 10

On behalf of the Herbots team, congratulations on your impressive achievements! We are keeping our fingers crossed for a strong second half of the season.

Christophe Mathues