Last weekend we had to deal with very warm temperatures which made the races very hard. This is already the case for the flights from the Rhone Valley, let alone that you get this heat on top of it. The winner is a hen that comes from Erik Limbourg from Brussegem. For Erik this is not only his 4th provincial victory of the season, but of course also a new national victory on top of his richly filled career. The last national victory dated from 2014 with “Black Magic”. Erik had been hoping for a new national victory for a long time, of course they don't just fall from the sky. Of course we shouldn't forget his national ace pigeons and all his national top rankings of the past years, but they are too long to list them all. We know what Erik is capable of and he knows his pigeons through and through. This hen was normally planned for La Souterraine, but because Valence was basketed a day earlier he still took 3 for this flight. Of course you have to go here with experienced hands and that is this hen for sure. She knows the tricks of the trade and has already flown quite a list of achievements. Her full brother became father of 1st Provincial Cahors and 1st Nat (z) Cahors 1,580 old last week. This is again the great breeding line of “Creone Roeper”. 

Hens system

The hens have been allowed to brood compared to last season, the first group a bit longer than the other group but to make them more stable in their box I did that this year. So I play with 2 hens to 1 cock, not all because there are 32 hens now for 24 cocks. So when there are 2 hens for 1 cock I mainly play on jealousy.

The hens train daily 2x per day for 15 to 20 minutes, I let them train 2x so that they can eat again after training and that way it is easier to keep eating. On the day of basketing they also train in the morning and the day after they return home they do not train. Only at very warm temperatures do I keep them inside in the evening.

The cocks that have 2 hens see a hen on both sides of their box and they are allowed to go there alternately. The one that is home first goes first and then I change. Latecomers also see their partner anyway, you have to make the pigeons remember why they are flying home.

As motivation for basketing, the cocks are always shown to the hens and this just before basketing. In the beginning this is 5 to 10 minutes on the speed flights and now for the national flights we are going towards 15 to 20 minutes.

The hens stay in a resting loft and are fed at least 3 times a week, mainly because there is no drinking water in their resting loft, which is why Erik wants them to drink regularly. Then they are allowed to eat on the floor in the other loft in front of their breeding boxes. The pigeons are given a variation of Vandenabeele Beyers together with Aidi (Vliegmix 2 and Long Distance) and are mixed and fed according to their own feeling. As an extra I add corn to this, which is important because of the high distance of flights and the number of kilometers that our pigeons fly. Before the racing season the racing pigeons were purified against tricho and the respiratory tract and for tricho I maintain this with trichovit from Raf Herbots or work individually with a pill per pigeon. I do try to alternate in the area of ​​tricho during the season and do this every 4 to 5 weeks according to my own feeling.

Winner Valence

BE 22-2090169 Checkered Hen

    1 Nat Valence ’25        2.344p
    1 Fastest                        3.705p
    2 Noyon ’24                     486p
    3 Prov Bergerac ’24        295p
  98 NAT                            3.157p
    4 Prov Argenton ’24    1.453p
  79 NAT                          13.393p
    8 Vierzon ’23                   572p
    9 Sermaises ’24           1.815p
  11 Blois ’23                        806p
  23 Noyon ’22                  1.225p
  33 Sermaises ’23           2.001p
  42 Prov Bourges ’23     3.097p
  48 Noyon ’22                  1.422p
  54 Noyon ’25                  1.324p
  59 Nat (z) Aurillac ’23   1.962p
  60 Nat (z) Limoges ’25 3.037p
  60 Noyon ’22                 3.270p
  61 Prov Limoges ’25     1.300p
  73 Vierzon ’25               1.741p
  78 Noyon ’23                 1.790p
  85 Nat Sancoins ’24     9.753p
103 Noyon ’25                 2.033p
219 Noyon ’24                 5.061p

Father BE 20-2072186 De Sterke
Topbreeder and father of “144/23” 1 Prov Vierzon 910p – 2 Prov Vierzon 638p 
Grandfather of “115/23” 1 Nat (z) Cahors 1,580p 
Brother of “Creone Roeper” 1 Nat Ace Pigeon long distance KBDB 2020 
½ brother of “Laurence” 2 Nat Ace Pigeon long distance KBDB 2019 
Son of “593” Roeper x “245/14” Daughter of Super breeder Eagle Eye

Mother BE 19-2091225 Daughter of Bonte Crack 
Daughter of “Bonte Crack” 1 Nat Ace Pigeon long distance old KBDB 2019 at Anthony Maes x
 “Laurence” 2 Nat Ace Pigeon long distance KBDB 2019 who is already a ½ sister of “Creone Roeper"

Arrival : 15:51:28
Distance : 672,100km
Velocity : 1197,04m/min

Buelens Kim