Questions (03-11-23)
Questions
Pigeon sport is very simple, unless you are just starting out. You can see that in the questions that such people sometimes have. Now I certainly don't have a monopoly on pigeon wisdom, but I dare to give an answer to some of them.
NUTRITION
As far as the daily requirement of feed is concerned, you often hear '30 grams per pigeon per day'. Although you should indeed keep things simple, this seems a bit TOO simple.
After all, every fancier must notice that pigeons are hungrier in cold weather and eat more. And also that 30 grams daily is too much in very mild weather.
I even sometimes believe that eating behavior changes when it is not yet cold or hot but, but it BECOMES. But maybe I'm imagining that.
THROAT
An American had read that the throat would say something about quality.
I told him I didn't believe in that, but also that I didn't know anything about it because I hardly ever look down throats. 'Almost never'. The rare time I do it is when I have doubts about the condition, more specifically whether there can be cankder (trichomoniasis).
With slime and slime threads, you may fear this. Because ‘the yellow peril’ may not be nearly as dangerous as it once was, but staying vigilant is still the message.
THE BEST?
The pigeons in the region Itegem, Berlaar, Hallaar, Zandhoven and so on have a reputation to uphold in the sprint. If they were so good, why wouldn't that be reflected in the National Championships?
There, with a few exceptions, you search in vain for names from that region. This has little to do with less quality, but with more competition.
In many regions, especially near the French border, the fanciers do not specialise, so they still get a lot of pigeons together and from those regions you will also find many names among the national champions.
You can see what other competitions in other countries can do at Olympiads.
The most fairytale-like results are achieved in countries where the sport is still in its infancy. There they laugh at the coefficients of 'our' best pigeons. I sometimes compare with Kieft, maybe you remember him.
He was a gifted footballer who became top scorer in the Netherlands with about 20 goals every year.
The Italians had noticed that too. He moved there and with frequent scoring it was over. He was still the same, but the opposition was not.
t would say something about quality.
I told him I didn't believe in that, but also that I didn't know anything about it because I hardly ever look down throats. 'Almost never'. The rare time I do it is when I have doubts about the condition, more specifically whether there can be cankder (trichomoniasis).
With slime and slime threads, you may fear this. Because ‘the yellow peril’ may not be nearly as dangerous as it once was, but staying vigilant is still the message.
ALSO FURTHER?
Some wonder whether pigeons from pure sprint racers would also be able to 'go further'. Sometimes they read that pigeons from Leo Heremans in particular are 'finished' after 400 km. Another time that they won 1st Nationals in the small long distance with ‘Heremans blood’.
Let's start by saying that Leo didn't have his own strain, nor did Vandenabeele, in fact none of the other toppers for that matter. Especially Jan Aarden strain is a joke. So those countless times you read somewhere 'Leo Heremans strain' quickly forget that word 'strain'.
Leo got his birds everywhere. If he suspected someone that he had better pigeons than he did, then such a man was visited.
What do I think about whether or not one can 'continue' with pure sprint 'kind'? Pigeons from fanciers who don't race further than about 250 km?
My idea is that it differs from pigeon to pigeon. One can continue, the other can't.
TELEPHONE
In this regard, I remember a phone call I made about 12 years ago with W de Bruijn. We raced with a few pigeons long distance and that went super, although it was hardly noticeable. The reason for this we only raced with about three or four pigeons. And with so little you only get the attention if the smarter readers.
We had 2 pigeons in mind to be entered for such a National Long Distance race, but I wanted to make it 3. A pigeon from Willem perhaps? But could he handle 600 km with a headwind as a youngster?
"I'm calling Willem," I thought. His reaction has always stayed with me. 'Can the pigeon handle that? How can I know? Play, and you'll find out.'
OBFUSCATE
Is it true that you don't have to darken young born in December? I was shocked because the question was asked by a top player. On closer inspection, however, it wasn't so strange. He's still young at least for a pigeon fancier. And I have a bit of experience with darkening, was a darkener from the very beginning and have tried a lot. In a previous life, I also had to persuade Belgian 'greats' to start darkening.
Practice has shown that you don't have to darken real winter youngsters if you don't play them for too long.
Orleans in earlier years (end of August) was in the nick of time. You just made it with non-darkened real winter youngsters or not. Even easy if you brought them to a nest. The disadvantage of pigeons with a nest is that they don't feel like training and you have to go on the road with them.
INVEST
Someone who has just started with pigeons: ‘How much money would I have to set aside each year for reinforcements?"
I replied that nothing is mandatory. I even advised against spending money for pigeons. First learn to deal with it and only then possibly invest. I write that more often. Most of the good pigeons I ever had had were exchanged or were products of joint breeding. Most of the time, it was "the more expensive, the worse."
POSSIBLE?
Do you still have something to look for in the youngsters' game if you have a full day job and are on your own for everything?
And one does not have the opportunity to darken, to 'patch' thoroughly and so on? Some do it, but those are exceptions.
And they often have someone on hand, a wife, father, neighbor or whoever, who helps out. Pigeon sport, and certainly the game with youngsters, has been evaluated in such a way that someone with a full-time job can indeed forget it in 2023 if excelling is paramount. However, you can ask yourself whether you have to excel to have fun in pigeon sport. Would the man with the mega loft, the pro and the semi pro, not be under more stress? And less relaxed than the hobby man
Capable of flying 500 kms in hard weather? Only the result sheet will tell.