Raymond and Germa Niks, from Westerhaar, win the International Agen

Following a very hot weekend, the pigeons were released from Agen on Monday morning. Once the morning mist had lifted, the baskets were released at 8.45 am. On the day of release, as might be expected, dozens of pigeons were recorded in France and slightly fewer in Belgium. The Netherlands was too far away for the pigeons to return home on Monday evening. The Dutch pigeons have found a solution to this … namely, flying through the night … even after a full day’s flight. As a result, the top of the International results table is coloured red, white and blue. The fastest pigeon among these night-time flyers comes from Westerhaar-Vriezenveen, owned by Raymond and Germa Niks. Following a fantastic year in 2025, they have continued this run of form with the International Victory at Agen against 23,191 pigeons. Naturally, this also secures them the National and FondUnie 2000 victories.

Agen FondUnie 2000
In the FondUnie 2000 competition, 599 fanciers basketed 6,189 pigeons. Following some very hot days with temperatures approaching 40 degrees, the pigeons were released on Monday morning. The temperature was much more pleasant, certainly for the fanciers. Pigeons can cope with a lot, although this time it was a bit too much of a ‘good thing’. Once the morning mist had lifted, the pigeons were released in Agen at 8.45 am. On the day of release, not a single pigeon managed to get through in the Netherlands. Those pigeons that caught the scent of home and still had the strength and motivation to carry on flew on through the night. That is why the first pigeons arrived very early in the morning. The fastest pigeon of the race was clocked in Westerhaar-Vriezenveen by Raymond and Germa Niks. They clocked their top hen at 4.37 am over a distance of 1,039 km. This gave a winning speed of 1,223 mpm. This was almost 100 mpm faster than the runner-up, owned by Jozef Poelstra and sons from Utrecht. The bronze medal in this edition of the Agen race goes to Piet Heikamp and Marco van Doorn from Zetten.

The Top 10:

1. Raymond en Germa Niks, Westerhaar-Vriezenveen
2. Jozef Poelstra en znn, Utrecht
3. Piet Heikamp en Marco van Doorn, Zetten
4. Piet van de Merwe, Dordrecht
5. Dick Ruiter, Lutjebroek
6. Michel Verweij en Peter de Haan, Mijdrecht
7. Jacob Jetse Halma, Balk
8. H. Pekel en zoon, Brunssum
9. Richard Kuijer, Kerkdriel
10. Mevrouw en Arie Wouterse, Varik

Dick Ruiter entered 35 pigeons and won 22 prizes. His second-placed pigeon is in 67th place. Jeroen van Vught from Ammerzoden has won two-thirds of the prizes with three pigeons entered. He starts with the 11th prize. Antony van Dijk from Honselersdijk secured 20 prizes with 28 pigeons entered. He started with the 18th and 64th prizes. Drost & Loos from Roelefarendsveen achieved a 75 per cent prize rate with 4 pigeons entered. Their first pigeon is in 24th place. Martijn de Groot and Bert Leijen from Egmond aan den Hoef also won three prizes with four pigeons entered. Their first pigeons are in 28th and 153rd places. Sil van Vliet from Ter Aar entered 23 pigeons and won 17 prizes. His top pigeons are in 43rd, 45th, 46th and 123rd places. P. Knol from Rotterdam has two of his three Agen pigeons in the prizes, starting with the 47th prize. Jaap Koese from Sommelsdijk achieved a 100 per cent prize rate with three pigeons entered. He starts with the 49th prize. In 68th place is Arjan Beens from Genemuiden. He has two-thirds of his pigeons in the prizes, having entered nine pigeons. M. Driessen from Stein achieved a 100 per cent prize rate with two pigeons entered. He starts in 88th place. In 97th place is H.M.A. Krutzen from Klimmen. He secured two prizes with three pigeons entered. J. Sneekes from Driehuis is in 108th place with his first pigeon. He has 4 of his 6 Agen pigeons in the prizes. Finally, we have Cees Boomaerts from Schijf. He has 8 of his 11 pigeons in the prizes and starts in 135th place.

The enthusiasts

The protagonists of these reports are, alongside their winning pigeon ‘Queen Agen’, Raymond and Germa Niks from Westerhaar. In his day job, Raymond is a project leader/manager at the construction firm Van Hoek Bouw. This company specialises in high-voltage installations. Raymond is married to Germa and together they have three children, of whom Tijn is the eldest. Next comes Eva, and Merel is the youngest. Germa helps out where necessary with looking after the pigeons and is in charge of the young birds. She also helps when the pigeons need to be let out or brought in at specific times. Their mother, Christianne, looks after the pigeons when Raymond goes on holiday with his family. Raymond: ‘The lofts look cleaner than ever before.’ Pigeon racing is therefore a true family sport for the Niks family. Between 1993 and 2005, Raymond raced in the programme competition alongside his father Reinder and mother Christianne. In 2014, Raymond began racing programme pigeons independently. For this, he had a maximum of 18 hens. In 2020, he made the transition to marathon races with young birds bred specifically for this purpose. Raymond on the loft facilities: ‘I have three lofts, two of which are garden lofts. In total, there’s about 22 metres of loft space, giving the pigeons plenty of room. I have a run for each division. The pigeons can go in during the day, but in the evening after training, they stay in the night loft. When temperatures are extremely high, I try to delay this as late as possible.’

The winning pigeon

Raymond and Germa Niks secured the International Victory at Agen with a two-year-old pure white-feathered hen. Following this magnificent flight, she was renamed ‘Queen Agen’. As a yearling, this top bird had already achieved 10th place in the National Agen for yearlings, competing against no fewer than 4,874 pigeons. Internationally, she secured 15th prize last year. She proved she could do even better in this Agen race. She won 1st National against 8,016 pigeons and also won 1st International Agen against no fewer than 23,191 pigeons. The pigeon was bred by fellow fancier Rick Te Morsche from Wierden. The sire of ‘Queen Agen’ is a pigeon originating from Carlo Dominicus in Goes. This cock was bred from a son of the top breeder ‘Zwarte Ko’ paired with Piet de Vogel’s Narbonne hen. This Narbonne hen won 23rd National Narbonne in 2018 and 5th National Perpignan in 2020. She is a direct daughter of ‘Het Wonder van Goes’, who won 24th and 29th National Pau. Queen Agen’s dam is a pigeon sourced directly from the (now defunct) Baas & Berg Combination in De Kwakel. She is a direct daughter of ‘Last One’, with results including a 3rd and a 71st National Agen. ‘Last One’ was paired with ‘Miss Unique’ from the J. Hommes & Znn. combination. This ‘Miss Unique’ is a daughter of the top pair ‘Golden Boy’ (top racer and breeder) and ‘Miss Tarbes’, who won 2nd (Inter)National Tarbes for the Hommes & Znn. combination from Akersloot.

The season

What does the breeding season look like? 

Raymond: ‘The racing pigeons are paired in the first week of February, so that they can be put into widowhood at the end of March/beginning of April. Just before the first official race in our division, all the pigeons are separated and placed in widowhood. In principle, all pigeons rear at least one young bird, and sometimes even two; if the pigeons are healthy, that shouldn’t be a problem. ’Raymond and Eva started the 2026 season with 35 yearlings and 30 two- and three-year-olds. For their own team, they have bred 100 young birds this year. In addition to the racing pigeons, they have 14 pairs of breeding pigeons. The racing pigeons are trained for widowhood. They are kept separated from mid-March onwards. Three weeks before the first marathon race, some of them are paired up for the first marathon races. After that, the pigeons remain paired for the remaining races.

Medical support

What do Raymond and Germa do to ensure their pigeons are in the best possible condition at the start of a marathon race? Raymond speaks openly about this: ‘During the racing season, we drive to Nanne Wolf every two weeks to have the pigeons checked for “common illnesses” such as jaundice, worms, coccidiosis and respiratory infections. Before the start of the season, I have the pigeons examined more thoroughly, for example for paratyphoid. If the pigeons are clear, they are not given any medication. The exceptions to this are that we give the pigeons a preventative treatment for respiratory issues for two days every three weeks, and sometimes also before a marathon race; and that we treat the pigeons for yellow before the start of the season. I do the latter when the pigeons are rearing their older young, which is sometime in late March. When the pigeons are separated, they are also given a worming tablet and a drop to treat lice. Furthermore, after the first middle-distance race, the pigeons are given a yellow disease tablet and, a week later, a worming tablet. I vaccinate the young birds myself first against paramyxovirus and rotavirus, and then the vet vaccinates them against paramyxovirus only. The young birds are also treated against pox the old-fashioned way, using a brush. I do not vaccinate against paratyphoid, but during the moulting season and just before pairing in winter, I treat them for paratyphoid using Parastop from De Weerd and Paracoli from Schroeder. The lofts are thoroughly disinfected with Virkon S in the spring. During the racing season, the lofts are regularly sprayed with Naturel Itec spray. The pigeons are not in the loft at that time (this is done after basketing).’

In Conclusion

In the first marathon race of the year, the Niks Combination secured a magnificent victory in the VNCC, the joint long-distance club for the East and North Divisions. Father Reinder and mother Christianne won the Périgueux race in fine style. Less than a month later, their son and daughter-in-law claimed the International Victory at Agen. What a truly marvellous year of pigeon racing for this family of fanciers! I’ve been writing articles about winners in pigeon racing for 35 years now, but I’ve never witnessed family victories quite like this before. The lovely thing is that they’re also a very likeable family of fanciers, who’ve achieved all this with good birds and a great deal of dedication. Dear all, congratulations once again on this truly outstanding performance by ‘Queen Agen’ and the victory that goes with it. Good luck and enjoy the upcoming races, and hopefully we’ll see you next time.