SCHOORS C. & A. - DE WAELE M. - ADEGEM 1st NATIONAL ARGENTON 19,858 YEARBIRDS - FASTEST OF 31,683 b. 2018

Distance: 533km
Velocity: 1231,46 m/m

Adegem: It isn’t the first time that we have to drive to the “Kleine Moerwege 1 in Adegem”, where Alex and daughter Carmen together with best friend and loft manager De Waele Maurice manage a true championship colony. In 1997 they won Argenton II year birds. In 2014 they hit the rose again on national level, this time out of Montluçon against 14,230 old birds and also the fastest against 33,528b with their superb widow cock “Zoon Super Derby 835”…a fellow that already won before this national Montluçon : 1st National (z) Chateauroux 4,288b. – 1st National (z) Montluçon 2,644b. !  And now, last weekend, their “B17-4078447” won 1st National Argenton ! You would like to know more top results from this colony…well, in the national KBDB championships and then especially in the hardest category of general champion of Belgium this threesome won unique results: 1st General Champion KBDB 2003 – 2nd General Champion KBDB 2010 and 3rd General Champion KBDB 2009 ! Or in other words, a business card that you can present everywhere without blushing ! 

VAN LOON

A fancier does have to have a bit of luck and this luck was theirs when they went over in 1999 to Louis Van Loon (Poppel) and bought 4 pigeons there. Two off them, namely the “Blauwen Vanloon” (B99-6552488) and “Vanloon 942” (B99-6552492) became super breeders and the other two were being selected out of the group way too soon as what these two Van Loon-pigeons brought onto this world was unique but to extended to put in this report. Alex: ‘ Even at this moment about 50% of our entire colony can be brought back to these two Van Loon breeders. The other half is being formed by pigeons of a.o. late Robert Buysse (Ertvelde), De Bruycker-Decraene, Dobbelaere-De Buck, Johny Maenhout, and so on... “

A FEW WIDOW COCKS

Our national winners have an extended team. They have 80 widow cocks (where of 26 old ones) spread over 6 departments. Alex “ We only race widow cocks. Despite all the successes made with the hens on other lofts, it is a game that doesn’t swipe us of our feed. “
The widow cocks were being coupled end of January, could raise a couple of youngsters which have by then the same age as the youngsters of the 2nd round out of the breeders. Beginning of April they were being coupled again, could stay together for 4 days and during this period the first training races took place. 
The entire team raced 1 x Arras, 2 x Clermont and 1 x Fontenay and after that the group was divided in 2. Three lofts raced Fontenay again and the others headed direction heavy middle distance. From that moment on we race group 1 one week and group 2 the other week. Once the long distance races are coming up, we do take out a few pigeons out of the different groups. 
The widow cocks trained as from the end of May twice at home. Their training attitude was good the past few weeks but not extra ordinary. They trained hard in group but speaking of a ‘splashing bunch’ wasn’t the case. For this reason Alex thinks that there can even be an increase of condition and shape. 
As a sales man of pigeon food we do pay a lot of attention to food and on our own loft we have as a base a protein poor mixture and as long as the race approaches the feeding gets heavier. The light mixture exists out of 50% Gerry Plus and 50% Wal Soontjes and the more heavy mixture is a mixture that exists out of Flight Exclusive, Super Star, Turbo Energy and Super Widowhood. As with many fancier they also here provide a lot of peanuts.
Before the start of the season the racing team was prepared to be 100% healthy and during the season a kind of a two weekly schedule is being followed. They are being cured every fortnight during two days against ornithoses and every other two weeks during 3 days against trichomoniases. Despite the tricho cure all widow cocks are being provided with the known yellow drops every week.

THE NATIONAL WINNER

The national Argenton winner isn’t an easy one to keep in your hand, he just wants to get out. Nicely build and of the smaller type. As youngster of the 3rd round he raced in his birth year : 2 x Arras (113km) and Clermont (218km). As a year bird he won : 12th Fontenay 378b. – 3rd Blois 309b. (23rd prov. 2,480b.) – 14th Bourges 636b. (106th prov. 3,678b.), 83rd Chateauroux 1,128b. and now the 1st National Argenton. Whether the winner was motivated in any special way? ‘Not that I know of’ replies Alex ‘Before basketing they get to see their hen shortly but we don’t have any special motivation tricks.’

Alex, Carmen and Maurice a big congratulations from the entire Herbots team.

B17-4078447 : 1st NATIONAL ARGENTON 19,858 YEARBIRDS - FASTEST OF 31,683b.

Stefan Mertens