On the international flight from Agen last Friday 26796 pigeons came to the start, we had a release on Friday morning around 7:30 and the winner of both the yearlings and the old pigeons for Belgium can be found in the lofts of Thibault Seiffert in Kappelen in Antwerp. This is a very special and unique result and he also clocked several pigeons in the top 100 national. The mother of the 1st National with the old pigeons is also the grandmother of the winner with the yearlings who will also be able to triumph internationally with the yearlings. This is of course the icing on the cake after this great result.

Agen National 4,839 old: 1,10,17,47,74,110,238,343,… 10/15
Agen National 5,314 yearlings: 1,9,63,81,95,120,129,184,215,403,448,467,520,… 19/39

How do you approach the racing system?

The racing pigeons usually fly their last long-distance or heavy long-distance flight at the beginning of August and then all nests are cleared away when basketing for the last flight. The pigeons then go into the moult together and stay together until the beginning of February. The boxes are open but there are no more nest dishes in the lofts and I just let the pigeons that lay brood rotten. Once the pigeons are really in the moult they stop laying anyway so that is not a problem.

The pigeons then gradually return outside once a week, after that 2 to 3 times a week and from mid-March they fly every day. I stick to the regime of once a day, once the pigeons are on the nest in the season, the cocks train in the morning and the hens in the evening. If there is not enough light in the morning, I cannot let the cocks out for my work and so everything trains in the evening. In the run-up to the first flights, my pigeons usually train for an hour and a half without any obligation.

What I do not do is drive with the pigeons, the old and yearlings simply go along to Quievrain in mid-April when I think they have flown in well enough. With the young pigeons, I drive once up to 10 km to let the pigeons get used to the moment of coming out of the basket and then the training is finished for me.

I darken the old pigeons from the beginning of February to the end of April to keep them calmer and I start lighting them from the longest day and I keep this up until the last flight of the season. The pigeons are only in the dark for 12 hours per day.

The loft is made in such a way that everything is open at the front and there is no ventilation in the loft. This means that I have very few problems with the airways and the pigeons can choose between the aviary and the loft at night.

At the beginning of April, the racing team is paired again and, depending on the winter plan, the nests are broken down when necessary. So now on Agen Saturday, most pairs were on their 3rd nest and the yearlings saw a youngster in the dish for the first time. The pigeons from Agen were basketed as youngsters of 4 to 6 days old and for the pigeons that are now in Barcelona, ​​this is exactly the same nest position.

The yearlings from Agen will now be prepared for Libourne and the old pigeons will be spread over Narbonne and Perpignan. But which pigeons will go where and how many will be determined then.

Feeding and guidance

The pigeons are only given Versele-Laga mixtures, I trust them completely and prepare a light mixture of 4kg consisting of 1kg paddy rice, 2kg Gerry Plus Black Label, 0.5kg Champion Plus Black Label and 0.5kg Superstar Black Label. Every day I add 10 soup spoons of Energy Moulting Mix from Beyers to this, which contains a lot of small seeds.

For feeding I use a firmer mixture consisting of 3kg (1kg Champion Plus Black Label, 1kg Superstar Black Label and 1kg Master Black Label).

Every day I also add fresh grit to the food, both in the light version and the food I use for feeding.

When I get home I use Top Ampule Muscles Plus from Next Level in the drinking water and they get 100% Start Black Label as food for 1 or 2 days, how long I do this depends purely on the difficulty of the flight.

Some small details that I adhere to during the season.

Before the racing season I put the pigeons on a pure anti-tricho treatment and just before the moult I repeat this. Furthermore I try to stay away from it as much as possible and let the pigeons get in shape.

The morning after they come home I give them Detox Minerals from Beyers together with Aidi Mineral Mix and I add 1 soup spoon of Insect Power from Descheemaecker Piegon Center to this.

The day after they come home they get the yellow drops from my regular vet Kristof Mortelmans over the food. This way all the latecomers can also be disinfected and the pigeons are clean again and in the water I then add Health Balance from Vanrobaeys.

During the rearing I always use Tea together with Herbochol from Herbovet in the drinking water 3 days before. I do this mainly to relieve the liver during the heavy fatty mixture that I feed. The last or the last 2 days I then switch to Dextrotonic in the drinking water to provide them with the ideal energetic.

Winner Agen

BE 23-6172437 Blue Cock 
1st National Agen 4.839 old birds ( 6 Int.Nat Agen )
11 Melun 211p
12 Vierzon 491p
14 Sermaises 254p
29 Melun 794p
74 Nat (z) Brive 1.060p
298 I.Prov. Vierzon 3.109p
347 I.Prov. Vierzon 7.626p

Distance : 863,435km
Arrival : 19:17:14
Velocity : 1220,86m/min

Father BE 18-6198920 Patton – De Smeyter – Restiaen 
Son of “639/15” BA Baracus x “613/15” Melissa won 5th Prov Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance KBDB 2017 

Mother BE 17-6187445 Wittekop 
Won 4th Noyon 205p – 9th Melun 190p – 10th Prov Chateauroux 375p – 14th Noyon 427p - 17th Argenton 274p – 62nd Prov Bourges 3,201p 
Super breeding hen and grandmother of “145/24” 1st National Agen 5,134 yearlings ( 1st Int.Nat Agen yearlings ) 
Daughter of “047/13” Baraka Rik Hermans x Danny Van Dyck x “138/12” Priscilla Rik Hermans x Danny Van Dyck

Buelens Kim