Casteleyn - Van Parijs (Zwevezele): 1st national ace Marathon yearlings KBDB 2024

We already visited this lauded tandem when they wrote the 1st national in the yearling pigeons on their “cahier” at Narbonne. Then it was a happy frenzy of triumphant people there who were all thrilled with this wonderful victory. It was all very fresh from the press then and everyone wanted to be in the picture or take a glass of champagne with them in the rightful joy.

But meanwhile, this national victory has also been extended in a literal sense to the national ace pigeon of the yearlings heavy long distance KBDB 2024. A title in pigeon racing that is still esteemed with great respect. A yearling pigeon that takes this title at a relatively young age is a crack and additionally does this with a 1st national prize on a very hard race...respect is in order.

It is pleasant daydreaming

It is pleasant musing together with Peter Casteleyn (62 years old) with a nice cup of coffee. It has been gratifying that the pigeons have done very well. Peter and his relatives have not been spared from major setbacks in recent years and then it is good to lose yourself in your hobby and enjoy the successes it has brought.
Peter's pigeon roots lie, as with so many, with his father who was a crack on the speed races. It was there that Peter caught the microbe and would play with the pigeons, if only out of respect for his youth. It was all a bit of a trapeze to build and run an expansive business, to be involved in local sports life (basketball), to be politically active and to take care of a colony of pigeons.  But Peter knows how to do it and what he does, he does well and the accommodation is top notch, and in the past he always had a caretaker with him to take care of the day to day care.
Since 6 years this is the dyed-in-the-wool pigeon player-care taker Gilbert Van Parijs. Gilbert has nothing to prove in his long career as a player and caretaker and achieved the greatest successes. With his 80 years of experience, he knows the tricks of the trade like no other.  One could wonder if Gilbert, with his great number of kilometers on his counter, is still keeping up with the current pigeon trends.  Well, the results he achieves in tandem with Peter clearly show that he is.
When Gilbert joins the conversation, he still shows an incredible drive and love for the pigeon and the game. His body and mind never stand still when it comes to pigeons. No day is missed or skipped to take care of the pigeons to the last detail.

Oldskool or not ?

We hear what Gilbert has to say and we find out if there are any novelties or special moves that are made on the chessboard in Zwevezele, but we find ourselves in a very solid pigeon school where tradition, care based on a lot of experience, and more than probably top quality pigeons prevail. No unnecessary flips here, it is all about solidity and transparency.

Peter listens very carefully and corrects or approves where necessary. Demanding? More than likely, not going for mediocrity, but that is also what Gilbert stimulates and strives for.

The breeders are breeding during our visit, 60 couples of which a large part in separate boxes provide about 120 youngsters of the first round and are supplemented with about 70 to 80 youngsters of the second round. In a third breeding round they are already 'specially' recoupled to keep the right line in the colony.

The breeders get light from 4 in the morning until 10 or 11 in the morning. Going with the natural darkness prevents breeding damage...because they know literally everything about pancakes !
The pigeons that populate the breeding strain are mainly pigeons from (the late) Georges Lidou, Gaby Vandenabeele, Hoornaert, Colpaert, Ferdy Descheemaecker, Jos Joosen and a few more names. On the verge of forgetting names, the pigeons are mainly bred from these names and supplemented with individual pigeons of good stock.
The objective is to breed pigeons that score on all distances. The ambition is from Arrras to Barcelona. There are enough individual departments on the loft and pigeons to compose several teams to complete the calendar.
Unlike the racing pigeons, the breeding pigeons are not vaccinated with paratyphoid vaccine, but do receive a 10-day cure in the drinking pot. For the rest, the breeding pigeons are fed mainly Beyers-Rui and some known supplements such as grit, vitamineral and pure water. In this regime, strong pigeons are bred.
No, they do not act blind or naive, pigeon doctor Wim Boddaert is their trusted adviser and regularly examines the pigeons. If it is necessary to take action, Gilbert advocates individual treatment based on a pill, better than treating the whole loft unnecessarily.
The youngsters receive the paramyxo vaccine shortly after weaning and a second time (a few weeks later) the paramyxo-rota combination.  At a later stage, protection against smallpox forms with “the brush”.  With this schedule, there have been few or no problems with the health of the young pigeons in recent seasons.

Pigeons must fly...

What a cliché ! But whenever possible, Gilbert lets the pigeons train daily. Yes, also in Zwevezele there are birds of prey, but careful, a months long winter rest is not preferred above stretching their wings now and then.
The troops consist of 68 cocks on classic widowhood (33 yearling cocks and the balance of old pigeons). There are also (successfully) 40 hens played on classic widowhood (with partners staying home).
The old pigeons do not breed for the season and are left together for a few days at most to facilitate basketing for the training flights. Yearlings are at most allowed to breed once to increase the stability. The pigeons are not darkened or-and no pins are pulled.
The cocks train once a day throughout the season (free training). The hens also train once a day around 10 o'clock in the morning, but the duration of the training is very limited. They go into the basket every week and training seems to be a necessary evil. The intensity of the short training is a good barometer for the results.
Before basketing, the cocks are given a nesting dish and with the yearlings, sometimes some hens are left in the loft to stimulate the drift. Before the long distance races, the old pigeons are accompanied by their hens for 1 hour or 1.5 hours.
The hens (which are played in the heavy middle-distance and some in the very long distance) are basketed after they have been allowed to play with their cock for a while.

Avoid variables, stick with what works well

This is the common thread in Gilbert and Peter's care for their pigeons. The feed is from Beyers and consists of three compositions to be used, namely Rui, Vandenabeele and Long Distance (sport mixture).

The pigeons always have food in their manger (be it leftovers from cull mixtures or a bit lighter with the Vandenabeele mixture), but they are never without food. The daily mixture is the “ruimengeling” and depending on the period in the season, it is made a bit lighter or heavier with the Vandenabeele-mixture and/or the long distance (sport) mixture. Slurry sand is also sometimes used to clean the heads and Dextotronic as a supplement.

Then there is a portion of sneaky mixture that is fed more as a dessert for 2 days before basketing.
There are many lofts here, many compartments and that allows to house relatively few pigeons per loft. The pigeons, because of the fact that they stay with few in a loft, are approached almost individually.  This also allows Gilbert to observe them very well.

Leander, a crack like no other ! Winner Narbonne national and national ace pigeon !
It is a real wringer in the hand. A very good wing, soft of plume and a nervous pigeon in the hand. It is almost reminiscent of an Arabian thoroughbred. All noted, pointed reactions... But above all a top pigeon with top results and this as a yearling pigeon.
He won the race to become ace yearling KBDB long distance pigeon on the 2 long distance races where yearlings can participate: Agen and Narbonne.  Both races were quite tough and both did not have the smoothest course.  It was hard work for hours.

- Agen

o Club 2nd 236 d

o Provincial 2nd 1,786 b

o National 11th 7,396 b

o Clocked at 20.38 h with minute speed of 1,079 m

- Narbonne

o Club 1st 141 d

o Provincial 1st 994 d

o National 1st 5,553 d

o Clocked at 7.41 a.m. with minute speed 983 m

The morning of Narbonne, Gilbert was totally surprised. He was taking care of some pigeons that stayed at home and a pigeon flew, according to Gilbert, “always to the wrong nest box” .... until Gilbert realized it was a pigeon from Narbonne and not a straggler.

It soon became clear that few would beat Leander for the national victory and this as a beautiful crowning of a top prize at Agen where he already showed his ability.

With a 2nd provincial and 1st national he also crowned himself as national ace pigeon KBDB, a very wanted title because of the fact that you can achieve this as a yearling pigeon.

When you look carefully at the pedigree, he seemed destined to become a fighter who can work all day to get home. Along fathers side, pigeons from Desaer (a loft built on the Vandenabeele pigeons) who have mordant as no other laced with some heavy fond blood from the pigeons of Gerard Latruwe and Emiel Denys. Along mother's side a Colpaert hen with as origin the pigeons of Jos Joosen, the line of the golden wing at Colpaert and the Peiren pigeons of John Debaene. 

Herald of ?

Gilbert proudly shows us the parents of top pigeon Leander who live in a separate breeding box, he shows us a beautiful white pigeon hen which performed super, he shows us a cock of the Desaer type which flew several times top 100 national on the one day long distance etc....

This to show that it is not only Leander who has quality in his wings here in Zwevezele. It is a strong loft, well developed in width and of which we have the feeling that the successes of 2024 are but the harbinger of more. Peter and Gilbert have worked hard over the past season to build a strong loft with lots of quality. Without “major setbacks” they will undoubtedly appear very early on the light box at the arrivals of the races, we are almost certain of that.

Certainly nothing is left to chance to run everything well. Motivated by what Leander shook out of his wings in 2024, they can now go on to enter the arena with shining sabers in 2025 as well.

Congratulations on these achievements and this top pigeon from the Herbots team !

Geert Dhaenens

Resultats 2024

Arras oude duiven 465 d.: 2, 4, 10, 21, 36... (22/30)
Arras jaarlingen 324 d.: 1, 3, 5, 11, 17... (16/19)
Clermont oude duiven 976 d.: 6, 10, 12, 53, 60, 67, 82... (14/16)
Clermont oude duiven 1.367 d.: 1, 68, 129... (12/24)
Chateauroux oude duiven 793 d.: 1, 4, 10, 16, 17, 22, 23, 27, 35, 38, 47, 51, 58, 77...(47/70)
Chateauroux jaarlingen 196 d.: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 16, 18... (16/24)
Bourges oude duiven 452 d.: 2, 5, 13... (11/15)
Bourges jaarlingen 330 d.: 3, 5, 7, 9, 14... (16/24)
Chateauroux oude duiven 638 d.: 7, 10, 12, 22, 43... (25/41)
Chateauroux jaarlingen 374 d.: 1, 3, 4, 9, 19, 26, 30... (16/22)
Limoges oude duiven 362 d.: 6, 7, 11, 12, 17, 23, 33... (12/20)
Agen jaarlingen 236 d.: 2... (5/16)
Sancoins jaarlingen 152 d. 3, 10... (4/11)
Arras jonge duiven 460 d.: 9, 13, 26, 29... (6/14)
Limoges oude duiven 160d.: 3... (6/8)
Limoges jaarlingen 233 d.: 9, 12, 19, 20... (15/28)
Chateauroux oude duiven 217 d.: 3, 19... (9/15)
Chateaudun oude duiven 201 d.: 1, 2, 13, 18... (10/14)
Chateauroux jaarlingen 155 d.: 2... (9/11)
Argenton jaarlingen 143 d.: 2, 3, 11... (4/12)
Fontenay oude duiven 72 d.: 1, 5 (2/2)
Souillac jaarlingen 136 d.: 6, 13 (2/4)
La Souterraine jaarlingen 136 d.: 1, 12... (7/12)
Brive jaarlingen 127 d.: 2, 3, 11... (5/20)
Orleans jonge duiven 257 d.: 1, 3, 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, 19... (46/77)
Pontoise jonge duiven 224 d.: 1, 7, 9, 11, 16, 17, 19, 20... (37/72)
Narbonne jaarlingen 307 d.: 1... (4/6)
Tulle jaarlingen 234 d.: 3, 6, 14... (11/17)
Bourges jonge duiven 797 d.: 9, 12, 22, 32, 37, 39, 41, 47, 61, 65, 70... (36/71)
Vierzon jonge duiven 304 d.: 3, 8, 18, 21, 22, 26... (20/36)
Argenton jonge duiven 335 d.: 8, 14, 18, 27, 31... (19/60)
Montoire jonge duiven 460 d.: 2, 5, 15, 29... (14/50)
Argenton jonge duiven 240 d.: 2, 4, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20... (22/57
Chateauroux jonge duiven 247 d.: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 18, 24... (26/80)