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 As it is March 15 in Holland, we start up with the preparations for the racing season. Our racing season starts at April 13 with races for old birds. We begin with races from 100 kilometres up to about 1200 kilometres. My 1 year-old pigeons all join the flight from Bergerac, and will cover a distance of 883 kilometres for me. Most of the times that presents no problems for these pigeons when they are in an excellent condition. The 2 years-old and older pigeons in my loft can go up to 1200 kilometres. From June we race with young pigeons. They mostly compete in about 10 races with each race ranging from 100 kilometres to 500 kilometres.
Last year the NPO (the Dutch pigeon union) decided not to participate any longer with the national Orleans race. This race was famous all over the whole world, because it was the biggest race in the world. In some years they had 250.000 young pigeons at the start of this national. You can imagine that the sky was black from all these pigeons. The distance from Holland to Orleans is about 400 to 700 kilometres. So, on flying days with heavy weather conditions, it was difficult to get pigeons back on the first day when they had to cover the longer distances. In Holland, animal organisations are very concerned with health care, and they look over your shoulder all the time to see if it is not too hard for the pigeons. My personal opinion is that a pigeon that is well trained and in good shape should have no problem with these distances. However, I think that in the next 10 years we are going to see more races covering smaller distances. So we have to breed more to speed than to endurance. Still….. I think that most of the champions of today are also the champions of tomorrow. BECAUSE: Every year it is important to keep a diary so that you know what happened the previous year and, especially, what went wrong. In winter time I read it carefully and make some decisions what to do different from the previous year. It motivates me to make special arrangements at some of my lofts, for example. • one of my lofts pointed to the North and every time the pigeons got back (we are racing most of the times from the South) they had to turn and would give me some extra seconds before I got these pigeons registrated. So I change that loft and turn it around to the south and let the pigeons get used to it. I hope that they will jump from the race directly into the loft. You know the sport has become faster and faster and every second will count. • In an other loft I had to much empty space and I saw that the pigeons in this loft where more nervous than in other lofts. So I cut this loft in 2 parts and now the contact with these pigeons is far better. Stress is bad for the health. • Last year it was cold at the beginning of the season and I didn't make enough training flights to get the pigeons into flying condition. Therefore the first 2 races where not so good. This year even when it is cold weather or bad weather I am going to train my pigeons. Maybe 10 times before racing, because a well trained pigeon also can store more fuel in his muscles and liver, get more oxygen into his blood and, last but not least, the orientation of the pigeons will also improve during training. So now I am ready for the season and I think I am going to beat them all. It is very important to be alert on every race and only go for first prizes. Because as a professional pigeon fancier you can get more results out of a pigeon than a normal pigeon fancier. You have to put into your mind that you are willing to do the utmost to be a champion. Then you are going to get one. In this part I am going to tell you something about heredity and pigeon breeding. About model and wings: First of all a lot of pigeonfanciers ask me what model and what wing is the best for a pigeon.
I like normal sized pigeons that have their wings as long as the black stripe on the tail started. Not too long, because most of the times the speed is less and not too short because then the endurance gives problems. Also the wings have to be smooth. If you tip with your fingers under the last feather you should be able to bend the wing easily into a vertical pose. With a stiff wing this will not work. As speed is increasing the stiff wings will give problems. Also the ventilation between the last 4 feathers must be good. When they are too close it will give negative results at higher speeds. For longer distances and heavy flights the lighter and smaller pigeons have an advantage to heavier and bigger pigeons.
About eyes: There are lot of so-called eye specialist that have pigeons for long time, but are no champions. My opinion is that all you can see is whether a pigeon is healthy, smart, brave, well balanced, etc. In an eye you can see if the vital organs of a pigeon are functioning well. Some are saying that white eyes are for small distances and good weather, that dark eyes are for bad weather and long distances, and that orange and green eyes would be for all kind of weather and distances. I have looked at he pigeons of topfanciers and saw that most of them have pigeons with all kind of eye colours and all race very well. I have been at topfanciers that had only dark-eyes in their loft and race these well on small distance too. When I look at a female pigeon-eye I have to see softness and carefulness. And if they have youngsters I must see that she cares.
By a male pigeon I look for an eye with courage and pride, just like if he wants to fight with me. Also the position of the eyes is supposed to say something about the capacity of the pigeons. N, this is not true.
It really is just the same as with people. The colour and the position of the eyes is not important.
Important is what the eyes tell you. And if you are very involved with your pigeons you can see what goes on inside of this pigeon. That is of real importance. The rest is for dreamers. About plume and feathers: The plume and feathers have to be soft and shiny. It is one of the conditionindicators that tells you if a pigeon is healthy and in top condition. When the plume and feathers are hard and stiff it is possible that the pigeon has a lack of vitamins and minerals. And if they are not shiny the condition is bad. Some colour specialists are telling a blue one is better for racing than a red one. Absolutely not true. The only thing I can tell for sure is that a good pigeon has always his best suit on. My best pigeons in all these years were never a day ill. So the condition of the feathers is very important to base decisions on for breeding, racing or staying in your loft. http://www.jaapkoehoorn.nl/
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