Dirk Van Den Bulck (Grobbendonk) wins 1st National Ace Pigeon sprint youngsters KBDB 2023

Dirk Van Den Bulck lives in Grobbendonk in Antwerp, a colony that has had a major influence in pigeon racing in recent decades. The “Kittel” and “Greipels” can no longer be counted on one hand and these pigeons are doing excellently in both Europe and the Far East. Many of us have always wanted to get a pigeon from Dirk and after a few years of a break, Dirk is back at the level where he should be. It is and remains a top colony that you have to take into account every week and that you are never done with. The vision, training and guidance are still the same and the new superstar of his colony is “King Arthur” who became 1st National Ace Pigeon Speed ​​Young Pigeons KBDB 2023, 10 years after his predecessor “Kittel”. “King Arthur” also won gold in the same category two years after “Blizzard King Kittel”, “Blizzard King Kittel” is a pigeon from Pierre Beyl's house that contains many Dirk species. The love for ace pigeons and a pigeon that can present a strong track record every week is very great. But Dirk realizes, just like everyone else, that we still breed more bad pigeons than good ones and opts for a regular pigeon that can fly early several times. You should never take too many pigeons under your wing, you must keep an overview and not become a slave.

Widowers

There is one loft in the garden for widowers, this loft will never be full because Dirk's selection is quite strict. He is not interested in top racers who do not win prizes for weeks afterwards, he wants pigeons that can fly to the top a lot and show their ability every week. Being able to show is the norm per 10, if you make a selection like this over the years you will of course go a long way.

The widowers simply do winter breeding together with the breeders and raise a round of youngsters. Afterwards there will be no second connection, but the daily training sessions will restart. An important detail in his guidance, training and early education is extremely important here. The widowers train here twice a day during the season and they also come out here on Saturday mornings. A trained athlete can handle much more than someone who rests a lot. He compares it to modern cycling, where men who have to ride a time trial first warm up before going full throttle at the moment of truth. So why shouldn't our pigeons be able to fly again on the day of basketing.

The pigeons only do not come outside in fog or heavy rain, but otherwise training is the key here. The old ones are ridden 4 times up to 45 km and then they are taken to Quievrain, basketed every week for Quievrain or Noyon and then we will see how far we get.

The start of 2024 was already good because on March 31 he won 3rd and 6th on Quievrain against 1,092 pigeons and on April 7 he won 5th on Quievrain against 1,295 pigeons and he had the fastest pigeon on Noyon against 306 pigeons, but this pigeon was also the fastest of all pigeons released in Noyon. This was already 5,703 in total.

During basketing the hens are shown but they are placed in half boxes, the cocks cannot reach them because Dirk believes that pairing before basketing is not allowed or possible. If you leave them together you will sometimes miss one that does mate and that is not okay for the fancier's mind. That's why they now come together in half a box for a few minutes and are taken away. When they return home, they are always allowed to stay together for a few hours, if the flight does not arrive home until the late afternoon, he will leave them together until the next day.

Toppers from last season

BE 23-6133516 “King Arthur” Blue Cock
1st National Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2023
1st Provincial Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2023

1 Quievrain        1.409p ( 6 Prov 14.839p )
2 Quievrain        1.680p ( 8 Prov 12.977p )
2 Quievrain        1.309p ( 9 Prov 17.466p )
2 Quievrain        1.050p ( 13 Prov 13.500p )
3 Quievrain        1.054p ( 24 Prov 16.363p )
3 Quievrain           998p ( 32 Prov 14.468p )
9 Quievrain           563p
35 Quievrain      1.132p
47 Quievrain      1.255p

Father BE 22-2011961 Pierre Beyl

Gr.F. BE 14-6091785 Super Vale Dirk – Dirk Van Den Bulck
                Foundation breeder with Pierre Beyl
                Father of 7 and 22 Nat Ace sprint KBDB 2021
                Son from “Schone Vale” ( Brother Goede Rode x Goed Rood ) x “Golden Leo 976”
Gr.M. BE 14-2163214 Won 6 x 1ste
                Sister of “030/19” father of “Blizzard King Kittel” 1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2021

Mother BE 20-6110261 
Won herself on Quievrain 1/222p – 5/728p– 6/413p – 14/656p
Sister “165/22” 1st against 10.807p

Gr.F. BE 19-606950 Son Miracle 
                Won herself 1 Quievrain 1.313p – 1 Quievrain 409p
                Son from “Miracle” 7 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2017 x “Granddaughter Kittel"
Gr.M. BE 18-6019015 Sister La Machine
                “La Machine” won 1 Ace Tienverbond 2019
                Daughter from “306/17” Liberaal 4th Ace young Tienverbond and grandson Kittel 
                x “Vale Sister Kittel” is sister Kittel 1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013

BE 21-6201004 “Green Eye” Blue Cock
1st Ace yearlings Tienverbond Quievrain 2022
1st Ace old birds Tienverbond Quievrain 2023

Won on Quievrain next results
1/418p – 1/413p – 1/352p – 1/320p – 1/172p – 1/127p
2/173p – 2/156p – 3/419p – 4/95p – 5/1.905p – 5/305p
6/360p – 9/815p – 11/258p – 12-946p - 12/450p – 13/951p
16/1.040p – 17/1.092p

Won on provincial level Quievrain next results
1/9.484p – 2/6.948p – 3/3.639p – 6/3.672p – 8/7.081p – 12/5.649p
16/3.715p – 20/2.687p – 26/6.636p – 40/3.377p – 48/11.748p
52/8.652p – 73/7.822p – 81/9.661p – 97/17.368p – 98/17.439p

Father BE 19-4213809 Son Greipel – Flanders Collection

Gr.F. BE 13-6139849 Greipel
         6 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013
         Brother “Kittel” 1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013
         Son from “Goede Rode” x “Olympic Rosita” 1 Olympiad bird Cat.F Nitra 2013
Gr.M. BE 16-4230162 Granddaughter Kittel
                “Kittel” 1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013

Mother BE 15-6208794 Daughter Sagan – Co breeding Van Den Bulck x Patrick Boeckx

Gr.F. BE 12-6108355 Sagan – Patrick Boeckx
                1 Nat Ace sprint odl / yearlings KBDB 2013
Gr.M. BE 14-6091989 Daughter Kittel
                Daughter of “Kittel” 1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013 x 
                “Daughter Brother Goede Rode”

NL 19-1624180 “Flying Dutchman” Checkered white feather Cock
Breeder : Lahid Farid

Won 1st, 3rd and 3rd Ace Tienverbond Quievrain in 2020-2021-2022
Won op Quievrain 1/337p – 1/274p – 1/195p – 2/271p – 2/267p – 2/414p
2/95p – 3/232p – 4/330p – 4/258p – 4/172p – 7/339p – 7/218p – 8/208p
8/362p – 9/198p – 12/209p – 14/1.453p – 14/704p – 15/409p – 21/294p 
23/1.991p – 36/1.032p – 50/1.092p

Won on provincial level Quievrain next results
1/6.810p – 1/6.602p – 2/6.948p – 7/4.434p – 8/5.386p – 12/2.687p
13/5.102p – 37/4.438p – 51/4.673p – 58/2.878p – 61/4.350p
79/6.054p – 93/3.219p – 98/17.746p

As an old pigeon, he won 1st – 1st and 2nd (rarely seen in pigeon racing) 3 weeks in a row, 
fastest of 21,914 pigeons on June 6, 
fastest of 15,124 pigeons on May 23, 
2nd fastest of 21,764 pigeons on May 30.

Father NL 18-1799880 Donkere Olympiade
3 Nat Ace long distance WHZB TBOTB 2018
Won 7 Quievrain 1.608p - 15 Fontenay 3.558p – 15 Melun 2.581p - 16 Pont 2.591p – 33 Peronne 1.215p
Proven breeder and father of “004/21” 1/630p – “005/21” 1/881p – “429/21” 1/410p

Gr.V. BE 16-6092455 Inbred Olympiade 003 – Leo Heremans
         Son from “953/10” Son Olympiade 003 x “851/05” Daughter Olympiade 003
Gr.M. NL 16-3637954 Daughter Kanon – Danny Van Dijck

Mother BE 18-4224918 Daughter Kittel – Flanders Collection

Gr.F. BE 13-6139803 Kittel – Dirk Van Den Bulck 
          1 Nat Ace sprint young birds KBDB 2013
         Son from “Goede Rode” x “Olympic Rosita” 1 Olympiad bird Cat.F Nitra 2013
Gr.M. BE 15-4264258 Gilberta - Flanders Collection
          Daughter from “803/13” Kittel x”926/12” Mother Kleine Galantos Leo Heremans

Young pigeons

The young pigeons are a bit of Dirk's specialty from the past and as proven last year it was a success again. His system is unique but clearly pays off. The youngsters from the 1st round are separated into 2 lofts, which are raced purely in widowhood with old partners. The youngsters from the 2nd round stay together and are played in a nest.

Dirk does not like very many pigeons and therefore always keeps his numbers for racing very limited.

The young pigeons are darkened from the end of March to the end of May / beginning of June and that's where it ends. For us, the months of June and July are very important for young pigeons and with the interprovincial release that we have here you really learn to bring the best pigeons to the fore.

As we mentioned earlier, he has a separate system and the youngsters from the 1st round have already been removed at least 20 times. Never far in the beginning, barely 200 or 300m, but departure and confidence is important for a young pigeon. My young pigeons have been exposed to the large basket from a very young age, so it no longer causes them any stress. I always ride a short distance in the beginning and am now at about 15 km. The selection of my young pigeons usually takes place before they go to Quievrain, those that don't follow suit or have difficulty finding their way back don't get a chance. Here too the comparison is again made with people who have to learn a new language as a child. A young child of 3 years old can learn a new language much more easily than someone of 40 or 50 years old. That is why my approach is to quickly familiarize the young pigeons with the basket, the departure and their orientation.

The pigeons now train twice a day and are taken away 3 times a week during the season. The only disadvantage is that the works on the viaduct in Vilvoorde make it more difficult to transport the pigeons far away. I rode less in the season last year, which had less influence on performance, so that will also be the case this year. The only thing that remains will be the training for Quievrain, which they must pass with flying colors. Compared to the old pigeons, the young pigeons are not allowed to train on the day of basketing.

The young hens of the first round and the widowers sit on bean straw while the young cocks of the first round and second round sit on grids.

Dirk plays his 1st round in widowhood with old partners and sees them for the first time after their first Quievrain. Some time is then spent to ensure that they mate properly and the pigeons stay together for a long time when they return home. As the season progresses, this time always becomes shorter and shorter. In the beginning I usually separate them in the dark on Sunday evenings.

Accompaniment

The first 2 days after the flight and upon returning from a flight, the pigeons are given the Wal Zoontjes Mixture. From Tuesday evening until basketing they receive Sport from Huygen. As an extra treat, they receive a daily portion of sweets.

As an extra, they get Tolyamin Forte from Schroeder – Tollisan when they get home and every other month I give Tricho Groen for 3 days. Before the racing season, the breeders receive a 5-day treatment while treating the young pigeons against tricho. Furthermore, very little is said about the food and the drinking bowl. For the respiratory tract I only treat if necessary, but that will only be once per season, if this is the case I usually use Soludox.

Dirk, congratulations on your great results from the entire HERBOTS TEAM.

Buelens Kim