Bram ten Klei (Zuidoostbeemster-NL): strongest on the short distance in 2023, superior on the middle distance in 2024 within division 6

In 2023, Bram ten Klei was the best on the unassigned flights within Division 6. With a strong series of performances he won convincingly 1st unassigned, 1st best loft and 1st pigeon champion speed. 

A year later, in 2024, Bram showed that he can also hold his own on the middle distance. He dominated the rankings with 1st unassigned, 1st appointed and a handsome 2nd place at best loft middle distance. A clear step forward compared to his performance on the middle distance in 2023, when he finished 5th unassigned, 7th assigned, but already became 1st in the best loft.

From wounded homing pigeon to top player

The love for pigeon racing arose at a young age. “I was eight when I found a wounded homing pigeon at our house,” Bram recounts. "My grandfather also used to have pigeons and loved that I showed interest. Soon he gave me a small loft with a few pigeons."

In 1986, Bram became a member of the association in Purmerend. The first years were all about learning, trying and adjusting. "The great thing was that my father eventually became interested as well. We then started flying together in combination, until his death in 2008." This partnership gave Bram more room in his younger years to combine the hobby with other activities.

Pigeons have always remained part of his life since then. “I have always participated in the races, although in recent years I have been more fanatical than I used to be.” A young family and a busy job did not always make it easy to keep all the balls in the air, but with good planning Bram still manages to fulfill his ambitions.

Since 2004, Bram has been keeping pigeons at his home address. Initially, the breeders still stayed with his parents, but after his move to Southeast Beemster in 2018, both breeders and racers are together in one loft. A move that has clearly not done him any harm.

Family matters and flying season

In the summer, the Ten Klei family invariably takes a few weeks of vacation. “Then it's a bit of a puzzle with the flights,” laughs Bram. Fortunately, his mother is ready to step in then. "She largely takes care of things during those weeks. Without her help it would be a lot harder."

The play on the sprint and middle distance flights has been going better and better in recent years, and as a result it is becoming more and more enjoyable. Especially now that I have achieved strong performances for three years in a row. Still the young pigeon racing remains my real favorite. In recent years you see more and more specialists on that part and it is important to get the youngsters in good health and with minimal losses at the start of the season, that remains a challenge every year. In the long run it is my ambition to reach a higher level also on the one day long distance.

Hens on widowhood: efficient, pleasant and effective

In my daily game, I work exclusively with hens on widowhood, a system that I now enjoy very much. The hens stay on rosters, which means that maintenance during the week is minimal. Cleaning hardly takes any time, which fits well with my busy schedule.

As for training, when the hens are healthy, they often take the initiative themselves. They then train exuberantly and with pleasure and that is something I as a fancier can enjoy intensely.

Because of my work, it sometimes happens that I come home later in the day. In those cases my wife or one of the children help out. They then just give some feed and the training is skipped that day. Remarkably, I have noticed that this hardly affects performance. It underlines for me how important good basic health and quiet in the loft are.

The system suits me and my way of life and as long as the performance remains good, I see no reason to do otherwise.

The motivation of my hens is carefully built up before basketing. Often this is done by showing the cocks: a method to get just that little extra spirit in the pigeons. Yet I have noticed that even hens that are not shown a cock are capable of flying rock hard.When showing, I let the cocks and hens spend half an hour together in their nesting box, complete with nest dish. During that time, I watch them settle down. When they are relaxed together, I calmly take the hens out of the loft to basket them.

My youngsters are not separated during the season. They train once a day, in the morning. As soon as I leave for work, they automatically come back inside. In the past I did experiment with separating the youngsters, but to be honest, I don't notice much difference in performance. For me, this natural approach works just fine.

Leading up to the racing season, I start rearing as soon as the weather permits. When the weather is good, I take them to Amsterdam in the morning. After unloading, they return independently to the loft. I start with short distances of about 2 kilometers and gradually build up to about 25 kilometers.

I also darken only the youngsters. From early March to early July, the loft is darkened from 18:30 to 06:00. Then I switch to supplementary lighting: from 06.00 in the morning until 22.30 in the evening and that until the last youngsters flight in September. The old pigeons in my system are neither darkened nor lighted.

The feeding schedule old pigeons

Sunday morning we feed liberally with 45% Versele Laga Gerry plus/ 45% purification and 10% P40. The food is made wet with a little Curol and Winmix from Comed and occasionally Carbo from pigeonHP goes over the food. They also have a jar of Dr. Marien minerals every day and regularly get the well-known multimix of the Patagonian. Every feed they get about 1 tomato can (70 grams) per 4 pigeons, I adjust the quantity by feeling. After 2 nights in the basket, on Sunday, the pigeons get a combination cure from Stefan Göbel or a BS cure from De Weerd in the water to disinfect them. On Monday and often on Tuesday, the pigeons also get 45% Versle Laga Gerry plus / 45% purification and 10% P40. They also get a handful of fresh peanuts every feed. Over the food is then again Winmix of Comed. Wednesday and Thursday morning, the mixture consists of 70% Gerry plus / 20% NPO-mix / 10% P40 and a handful of peanuts every feed. When the flights are a bit heavier, they also get more sport instead of Gerry plus.Thursday night they then get 50% Gerry plus / sport , 30% NPO mix and 20% P40. Depending on the race, they get 1,5x to 2x the normal amount. On a flight with two days in the basket, they get a little extra food on Thursday morning. On Friday, the pigeons get the normal amount of Gerry plus in the morning and in the evening. On the short distance races, they only get a little bit of Zoontjes food in the evening. Before basketing on the heavier flights, I want to replace the Gerry plus for a little NPO mix. Through the food is always a little grit mixed, so the pigeons get fresh grit every day. In addition, feeding is also done by feeling, depending on the weather forecast and the distance, we feed more/heavier or less/slighter. On Saturday, when they arrive home, a mixture of Zoontjes/Embregts NPO mix/Gerry Plus is ready on the ground. About 1-2 hours after returning home, the cocks are removed and the perches are placed back in front of the nesting boxes. There is also plenty of feeding then. Belgasol and in heavier races Recup Fast from pigeonHP is added to the water. The hens then get some rest to recover from the flight.

The feeding schedule young pigeons

The young pigeons receive sufficient breeding of Versele Laga after weaning until about a month before the races. I put the 1st-2nd-3rd round together in one loft. Then there must always be enough food available. In the run-up to the racing season, they get the young pigeon mixture from Versele Laga, supplemented with grit and P40. They get about 1 tomato can per 4 pigeons. Depending on the weather, they sometimes get a little more. During the first flights, I also keep this schedule and when the flights get longer, I switch to a mixture of sport, P40 and NPOmix. In the drinking water, the youngsters get Röhnfried Avidress plus every day from weaning. I have been doing this for three years now and I have had no real problems with Coli since using this product. The youngsters are vaccinated 2x against paramixyo-rota, 1x immediately after weaning and 1x after the last youngsters have been weaned. In principle, I play the entire youngsters program because I want them to gain as much experience as possible.

Breeding

The couples I put together on the basis of pedigree, construction and a large part of feeling. Furthermore, I only breed from the breeding couples and the best racers. Usually I pair the breeders at the end of December and the racers at the end of January. I can then get 3 rounds of young from the breeders. For myself I breed around 60 youngsters to fly.

Colony construction: focused on quality and results

The basis of my colony is carefully constructed with quality and proven performance as a starting point. When selecting my pigeons, I deliberately chose a mix of reliable lines and targeted reinforcements, appropriate to the disciplines in which I am active. An important part of my strain comes from club members Gerard Timmer and René Krijger, with whom I have had pleasant contact for many years. Their pigeons formed a solid starting point. To further strengthen my colony, I invested in pigeons from well-known fanciers with proven successes in specific races. For the sprint and middle distance I sought reinforcement from Albert Roording from Eefde, while for the one-day long distance I deliberately approached Peter Crans and Arie Dijkstra. These combinations have visibly strengthened my strain. Within my loft, several strong lines are now represented. There are descendants of “De Jan” of Leo Heremans, ‘Kittel’ of Dirk van den Bulck and “De Lamme” of Jef Claeskens. Also the line “Leonardo x Tinkebel” of Arie Dijkstra is clearly found in my breeding stock. In recent years, pigeons from Jos Thoné were added, especially from the famous Avril line, which are a nice addition to my strain.The heart of my colony is formed by my foundation pair NL13-1089578 x NL21-1676507, which has produced several top pigeons in the meantime. This breeding combination has more than proven itself in practice and is therefore an indispensable pillar within my loft.

Top pigeons

22-424 "Femke"

• 1st ace pigeon long distance PV BEP, Kring 2 and 2nd in Division 6 (2024)
• 7th acebird national NPO 2024

22-452 "Jutta"

• 1st ace Middle Distance PV BEP 2024
• 2nd ace Middle Distance Circle 2
• 20th ace Middle Distance Division 6

23-596 "Letitia"

• 1st against 11,049 pigeons on Vitry (June 2, 2024)
• 4th ace young overall Kring 2 (2023)

22-489 “Snow White”

• 8/4571 NPO Châteaudun
• 10/3307 NPO Fontenay
• 6/3291 Morlincourt-Noyon
• 6/1581 Pont St Max
• 38th FCI World Best Pigeon

24-257 “Lieve”

• 5th ace pigeon Kring 2 (2024)
• 7th ace youngster Division 6 (2024)
• 2/3555 Duffel (2025)
• 2/2655 Morlincourt (2025)
• 3/2525 Pont Saint Maxance (2025)

Success at the one-day loft race in Slovenia

Bram proved his class in 2024 at the one-day loft race Avirings in Slovenia by impressively winning the super final over 600 kilometers. It was the crowning glory of his participation, after he had already excelled a year earlier - in 2023 - by winning the semi-final over 400 kilometers.

AviRings Derby Slovenia 2023

NL23-9214600 “AviRings Rocket”: 1st place on the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 d.), 6th ace pigeon overall and 8th ace pigeon average speed overall

NL23-9214599 20th place on the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 d.)

AviRings Derby Slovenia 2024

NL24-8314264 “Grizzle Billy”: 1st place Extra Final (600 km)

Nice results season 2024:

• Vitry-en-Artois (277km) 8043 pigeons: 3-5-8-9-30-31-298-554 etc. (16/20)

• Vitry-en-Artois (277km) 11049 pigeons: 1-2-5-11-94-142-165-166-335-621-819-832-864 etc. (15/22)

• Pointoise (430km) 1823 pigeons: 4-13-122-128-159 etc. (11/16)

• Morlincourt-Noyon (354km) 1550 pigeons: 1-17-84-101-106-147 etc. (13/16)

• Duffel (160km) 3139 pigeons: 4-5-43-44-50-84-87-101-185-194-195-197-246-258-262-269-285-286-288-289-292-304-311 etc. (44/63)

• Oudenaarde (208km) 2854 pigeons: 4-14-20-21-33-34-45-47-49-51-55-59-68-70-84-126-138-139-140-141-162-163-174-175-193-198-205-206-242 etc. (40/60)

Nice results season 2025 (so far):

• Roosendaal (115KM) 3446 pigeons: 4-6-7-9-13-15-31-32-33-106-146-150-151-184-219-250-253-265-418-540-791 (21/25)

• Duffel (160KM) 3555 pigeons: 2-8-31-33-66-67-72-78-99-100-103-120-123-126-173-283-558-601-603-605-803 (21/23)

• Quiévrain (249KM) 3394 pigeons: 1-3-6-7-27-39-55-56-57-161-178-215-216-217-277-295-301-360-737 (19/22)

• Morlincourt-Noyon (353KM) 2655 pigeons: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 14, 17, 30, 49, 86, 140, 156, 161, 235, 287, 293, 436, 466, 506, 620, 734 and 753 (22/22)
• Also this weekend the best loft performance in the Netherlands and a “Clean sweep”

• Pont Saint Maxance (393km) 2525 pigeons 1-3-19-36-41-47-48-49-60-61-74-102-125-146-415-645-725 (17/22)

 Season 2024 - Championships

Div. 6 Kring 2

• 1st Undesignated Middle Distance
• 1st Designated Middle Distance
• 1st Ace Middle Distance
• 5th Ace Middle Distance (22-452)
• 7th Ace Middle Distance (22-451)
• 1st Ace pigeon (22-424)
• 2nd Undesignated short distance
• 2nd Designated short distance
• 1st Designated Young Short
• 2nd Undesignated Young Short
• 1st Designated Young short
• 6th Designated Young overall
• 5th Ace pigeon young short (24-257)

Division 6 North Holland

• 1st Undesignated Middle Distance
• 1st Designated Middle Distance
• 2nd loft performance middle distance
• 2nd loft performance short distance
• 2nd Ace Pigeon short distance(22-424)
• 2nd Designated Young Short
• 3rd Undesignated Young Short
• 4th Undismissed vitesse
• 6th Ace Pigeon Young Short (24-257)
• 8th loft performance young short
• 6th Designated Forerunner
• 20th Ace Middle Distance (22-452)

 National 2024

• 7th Undisputed champion NPO short distance
• 7th Ace pigeon NPO short distance (22-424)
• 18th Designated Champion NPO short distance

Golden Pigeon 2024

• 5th place Netherlands Middle distance August/September

 AviRings Derby Slovenia 2024

• NL24-8314264 “Grizzle Billy”: 1st place Extra Final (600 km)

Season 2023 - Championships

Div. 6 Kring 2

• 1st Undesignated short distance
• 1st loft champion short distance
• 1st Undesignated Middle Distance
• 1st loft Middle Distance
• 1st Designated Young Long
• 1st Designated Young Total
• 1st Undesignated Super short distance (V+M+N)
• 2nd Designated short distance
• 2nd Ace pigeon short distance (21-139)
• 2nd Designated Middle Distance
• 2nd Ace pigeon Middle Distance (22-489)
• 2nd Undesignated Young Total
• 3rd Undesignated Young Lang
• 3rd loft champion Young Long
• 3rd Ace pigeon short distance (22-452)
• 4th Un-designated Young Short
• 4th Ace pigeon Young Total (23-596)
• 5th loft champion Young Short
• 5th Designated Super short distance (V+M+N)
• 5th Ace pigeon Young overall (23-554)
• 7th Ace pigeon Young overall (23-529)
• 8th Ace pigeon Middle Distance (22-451)
• 10th Ace pigeon Middle Distance (22-452)

 Division 6 North Holland

• 1st Undesignated short distance
• 1st Designated Young Total
• 1st loft performance short distance
• 1st loft performance middle distance
• 3rd Ace pigeon short distance (21-139)
• 4th Designated short distance
• 4th Designated Young Long
• 5th Undesignated Middle Distance
• 6th Undesignated super short distance
• 6th Ace Pigeon short distance (22-452)
• 7th Designated Middle Distance
• 7th Ace Middle Distance (22-489)
• 7th Ace Young Long Distance

 AviRings '23 - OLR Slovenia

• 6th ace pigeon overall and 8th ace pigeon average speed overall (23-600)
• Semi-final 400km 1st (23-600) & 20th (23-599 ) against 1,321 pigeons

 National 2023

• 1st Grand prix short distance
• 3rd Undesignated champion NPO short distance
• 14th Ace pigeon N.P.O. short distance (21-139)
• 27th Ace pigeon N.P.O. short distance (22-452)
• 16th appointed champion N.P.O. distance
• 20th best fancier N.P.O. unassigned
• 27th best fancier N.P.O. appointed
• 30th unassigned champion N.P.O. Middle Distance
• 38th F.C.I. World Best Pigeons “MIDDLE DISTANCE” (22-489)
• 48th Designated Champion N.P.O. Youngsters

AviRings Derby Slovenia 2023

• NL23-9214600 “AviRings Rocket”: 1st place at the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 d.), 6th ace pigeon overall and 8th ace pigeon average speed overall
• NL23-9214599 20th place on the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 b.).

The road to the top is long, but Bram ten Klei is proving that determination pays off. His results in 2025 speak volumes. Good luck Bram, on to many more highlights, on behalf of the entire Herbots team!

Christophe Mathues