Balcaen-Dubois (Ellezelles): 1st ace short distance YB "Herbots Championship 2023"

Christophe Balcaen, 50 years young, married to Cécile and father of Estelle (17 years old). For years he has been one of the best speed players in West Hainaut, this is fully proved by his results. Christophe's pigeon adventure started with his parents in Celles in 1989. In 2004, he moved to Ellezelles and of course pigeon lofts appeared in the garden. It was in fact his grandfather, Henri Dubois, living region Frasnes, who introduced him to pigeon racing and passed on his passion to him, and it is to honour his memory that Christophe still plays under the name 'Balcaen-Dubois'. 

Christophe is also known for having a colony consisting mainly of 'white' pigeons and his Latin motto is 'Alba exercitus sano corpus', meaning 'The white army in a healthy body'.

Although Christophe's speciality is speed races, he also stands out in national great middle distance races, as you can see from the following results achieved in 2023:

Short distance youngbirds  prijzen per 2-tal

Pont      : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13… van 321 duiven (30/38)

: 1,2,3,4,7,12,13,14,15,16,17,20… van 1055 duiven (32/38)

Ecouen : 1,2,4,5,6,8,11,12,15,16,17,20… van 409 duiven (31/40)

Ecouen : 1,3,8,10,18,19,20… van 300 duiven (19/39)

: 3,7… van 902 duiven (19 / 39)

Noyon  : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10… van 172 duiven (26 / 32)

                : 5,6,7,8,9,14,15… van 603 duiven (25 / 32)

Noyon  : 1,2,5,10… van 174 duiven (14 /20)

Noyon  : 1,2,5,8,10,11,13… van 150 duiven (15/ 20)

Ecouen : 2,8,13,16,20… van 356 duiven (25 / 41)

                : 6,15… van 1279 duiven (28 / 41)

Pont      : 3,4,9,10,11,12,13,4,15,16…van 340 duiven (27 / 41)

                : 5,6… van 834 duiven (27 prix de 41)

Pont      : 2,9,11,16,17,19… van 330 duiven (33 / 39)

                : 3… van 1107 duiven (33 / 39)

Noyon  : 3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11,12,14,15,17,21,22… van 576 duiven (34/43)

                : 8,9,10,11,12,13,16,19,20… van 1032 duiven (37/43)

Noyon  : 4,5,7,8… van 393 duiven (22/25)

Short distance old and yearbirds prijzen per 2-tal

Pont      : 1,2,13… de 573d. (18/ 22)

Pont      : 1,11… de 242d. (6/ 10)

Pont      : 1,2… de 230d. (7 / 7)

Pont      : 1,7,8,9,10… de 169 V. (20/ 36)

Pont      : 2,17… de 558d. (7/ 10)

Ecouen : 2,6,15… de 432d. (12/ 26)

Pont      : 2,3,4,11… de 234d. (17/25)

Maisse.                : 2,5,7… de 128d. (14/18)

Pont      : 3,10…de 770d. (22/24)

Ecouen : 3,4… de 236d. (21/25)

Pont      : 5,7… de 271d. (17 /20)

Pont      : 6,8… de 1280d. (18 /22)

Pont      : 7,9,10,11… de 532d. (28 /34)

Great middle distance old and yearbirds (prijzen per 3-tal)

Châteauroux Nat. Zonal : 3 van 1085 oude.

La Châtre AWC : 11 van 3399 jaarse. 

Nevers AWC : 45 van 3759 oude.

Bourges Nat. Zonal : 59 en 89 van 1420 jaarse.

La Châtre AWC : 84 van 3503 oude.

The foundations of the colony.

The basis comes from Henri Dubois (Frasnes) and Roger Desmet (Escanaffles) supplemented over the years with pigeons from André Roodhooft (Pulderbos), Freddy Vandenheede (Zingem), Van Avondt Danny & Nick (Wespelaar - from the "Super Million" line via Herbots), Bart Geerinckx (Wommelgem - via Olivier Carlier de Wauthier-Braine) and recently Leutenez Eddy & Maarten (Ruien).

Colony composition and care.

The colony consists of 12 breeding couples that raise 3 rounds of youngsters. The 54 racers (24 cocks and 30 hens) are divided over 4 lofts and played according to the classical widowhood system. Every year, 70 youngsters (housed in 2 lofts) are played, some with the sliding door system and some "au naturel".
All breeders and widowers are paired in early December. The 24 widowers breed a pair of youngsters which are weaned at the age of 25 days. 
Of the 30 racing hens, 15 are paired at the beginning of December, raised their young and then moved to the aviary. The other 15 hens are then paired with the same cock, to be separated from their partners after a few days of breeding. From then on, widowhood is a fact. By pairing 2 hens with 1 cock, the ladies are always super motivated during the season
In early March, all racers are paired again and then put on widowhood on eggs a few days old. Both widowers and racing hens train once a day, depending on the weather and Christophe's work schedule.
Before the racers are basketed, the nest dish is turned over and the partner is always presented. As the season progresses, only the nest dish may be turned over. Everything depends on so many circumstances. On their return from the races, the homecomers are reunited with their partners and stay together for +/- 1 hour, depending on the difficulty of the race.

As for feed and supplements, at the beginning of the week they get 'Galaxy Sport Light' (Beyers), mixed with 'Gerry Plus' (Versela Laga), afterwards they switch to the 'Super Star' mix (Versele-Laga). Every week, during the racing season, alternately 'Naturaline' (Natural), 'Glucose + vitamins' (Oropharma/Versele-Laga) and 'Gervit-W' (Rohnfried), apple vinegar and a piece of garlic are added to the drinking water. 'K+K Protein 3000' (Rohnfried) is mixed with 'Zell Oxygen' liquid brewer's yeast (Herbots). 'Deli Multimix' grit (Beyers) and sweets are also given to the pigeons. On Sunday morning, during the competition period, Christophe puts a yellow drop (Jaap Koehoorn) in the throat . The youngsters regularly get 'Entrobac' (Rohnfried) in their drinking water to stabilise their intestinal flora. After the racing season, Christophe makes a home-made herbal tea of garlic, barnyard wormwort and thyme, which he regularly serves to all pigeons.

In terms of care, pigeons are vaccinated against paramyxo, parathyphus and smallpox. The vet is never consulted during the season. Christophe uses a microscope to analyse droppings and detect various worm problems, coccidiosis and trichomoniasis. He is anti-medication and against antibiotics, which explains his motto 'Alba exercitus sano corpus'.

On behalf of the Herbots team, I would like to congratulate Christophe Balcaen on his brilliant results in 2023 and wish him all the best for the 2024 pigeon season.

Bernard Henry