Combination Eijerkamp-Paalman own one of the best hens in the Netherlands with ‘Zoe’

With Arnold Paalman (Laren), we have one of those young, super motivated and talented fanciers from the Netherlands at our discussion table. Arnold, full time loft manager of the breeding pigeons at Hans & Evert-Jan Eijerkamp (Brummen) first played on his own name, but since 2022 he has been flying under the Eijerkamp family flag. During the racing season, Arnold's day can be divided into 3 parts namely ‘own pigeons’, ‘Eijerkamp pigeons’ and back ‘own pigeons’. A day that starts at 6 a.m. and in full summer it is no exception that at 9 p.m. widowers are still racing through the Laren sky. 

Putting “bang results” on paper... that's ‘kicking’!

As deeds still say a lot more than a thousand words, we first sum up the amazing results of Combinatie Eijerkamp-Paalman of the last 2 seasons. Results that many of us can only dream of, results that more than capture the imagination. Take a moment to enjoy them: 2023:
 

1st NPO Afdeling 9 Sermaises (528 km) against 4,425 pigeons
1st and 2nd Afdeling 9 Charleville (297 km) against 13,310 pigeons
1st, 2nd and 3rd Afdeling 9 Nanteuil le Hadouin (426 km) against 10,295 pigeons
2nd, 4th and 5th Afdeling 9 Marche (231 km) against 8,028 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th and 12th Afdeling 9 Bierges (205 km) against 17,843 pigeons
5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 12th, 13th and 15th Afdeling 9 Mettet (243 km) against 12,148 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Afdeling 9 Dizy le Gros (333 km) against 9,131 pigeons


2024:
1st, 6th, 8th and 10th Tongeren (168 km) against 8,364 duiven (2e against 25,303 pigeons)
3rd Afdeling 9 Marche (231 km) against 24,807 pigeons
1st, 2nd and 5th Afdeling 9 Dizy le Gros (333 km) against 23,938 pigeons
1st and 2nd Chalons en Champagne (389 km) against 5,260 pigeons
1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th Sourdun (461 km) against 5,271 pigeons
2nd, 3rd and 8th Charleville (297 km) against 4,004 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grand Prix Afdeling 9 Chalons en Champagne (389 km) against 11,002 pigeons
2nd Afdeling 9 Charleville (297 km) against 9,834 pigeons
2nd till 31st (!!) Heusden Zolder (149 km) against 6,324 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Tongeren (169 km) against 2,630 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th Afdeling 9 Bierges (205 duiven) against 14,594 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Marche (231 km) against 3,657 pigeons
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Afdeling 9 Dizy le Gros (333 km) against 7,155 pigeons

Before and after winter breeding

Anyone who has ever had a conversation with Arnold will immediately notice that pigeon racing is pure passion for Arnold. A super motivated fancier who is then also ‘lucky’ to be allowed to play with the very best breeding lines from the Eijerkamp breeding loft. ‘Especially the pigeons from Heremans (line ‘Fat Blue Jackpot’), Leideman Gebroeders and the time-honoured Van Loon score like no other’. Arnold manages to tell. ‘Listen’, Arnold continues ’Most of all I play with old and yearling pigeons. Let's say the races up to a good 400km are marked in fluor on the flight calendar. The one-day long distance is also played but here we are still building a stronger base. 
The new season starts where the previous one ended. Once the necessary rigorous selection has been made, all pigeons receive a parathyphoid cure. This is immediately followed by an ‘anti-fungal cure’. For this I follow the advice of vet Tony Oranje. The pigeons stay in aviaries and have plenty of time to moult. Koopman All-in-one’ goes into the feeders as a mixture.
Once the last pin in most pigeons is halfway mature, the pigeons are paired. This is usually around New Year. The hens are separated in time and the cocks raise the young on their own during the last week. Should one hen have laid anyway, as long as they do not breed, it is no disaster. 
After breeding, the racers receive a kind of ‘Detox cure’, concretely this means that the breeding mixture (Koopman All-in One) is replaced by a mixture of Barley, Depurative, Paddy Rice and ‘Detox’ mixture. Immediately you see that the manure is less beautiful, but that the pigeons are shedding a lot of down, which is after all the ultimate goal. After this cure, the menu is changed to 50% Verkerk Light and 50% Recup, both from Beyers. They will get this mixture until the first training flights because then the mixture will be made ‘heavier’.

Speaking of tossing

My youngsters were only played on the ‘natour flights’ and that's why I spend a lot of time training my yearlings and old pigeons. In about 8 steps I go towards 65km. It is important that the pigeons gain confidence to sprint directly home. Important detail: before I start with the first training flights, the pigeons have to train for 1 hour at home. The basic condition must first be up to scratch. 
During the season, I only ride extra during the first 5 weeks. I then release both sexes together and when they return home they are immediately separated. Such races give them extra confidence and motivation to perform. If they finish such a race during the week, on basketing day the sexes don't come together again. 
Some fanciers ask me if I darken my old and yearling birds. My cocks are not darkened and my hens only during March. Once April I stop darkening the hens. In fact, I only do it to dampen the ladies' lust for mating. 

As many as 10 different types of feed

‘How do you feed during the racing season’ a question I get more than once. ‘In terms of feeding, I am somewhat maniacal and feed very much by feel and that is damn difficult to explain. Let me state the basic principle is the same as with so many other fanciers and that is from ‘light feeding’ early in the week to ‘heavier feeding’ the last days before basketing. Besides the daily training, my racers are also basketed weekly, so it's up to me to make sure the pigeons recover well on the one hand and arrive at the start of the race with a full tank on the other. To achieve this, I need enough different types of feed and it is no exception that I have as many as 10 different bags of feed open. On Sunday, I write out my feed schedule for the rest of the week and, so to speak, the feed looks different every day. I mix the different species until I get a mix which I happily put in the feeder.
As supplements, P-40, candy mixture, , hemp (is fed in generous portions), NPO Mix, Tovo are on the menu. I do not feed by quantity (a certain number of grams per pigeon per day), but by feeling. If one day I fed a bit too much, I put on the brakes a bit the next day. The aforementioned supplements usually go down well with the pigeons. Sometimes we can have eaten enough, but a nice dessert usually goes with it. The same goes for racing pigeons. 
To promote recovery after a race, Tollyamin Forte with honey goes in the drinking water and the pigeons returning home can immediately take Mariën minerals, egg powder and different kinds of grit. When the sexes are separated, feeding is done and the feed is enriched with Probac APF 90 (Brockamp) 

The Vet
Besides the advice of vet Tony Oranje, I also consult vet Nanne Wolf on a regular basis. Nanne has so much experience with pigeons that his advice becomes law for me. More even I see Nanne a bit as my ‘mental coach’. During the season I go into his waiting room every 3 weeks. Usually everything is fine, but I need his confirmation if I want to sleep easy. When the racers have had two nights in the basket, they are all dripped with the well-known yellow drops.
Only with the youngsters I have to give something against ‘the head’ every year. Before the start of the season, I have them examined and usually I have prizes. Nanne then looks for the most suitable antibiotic and that is then given so that the youngsters can start their first races in top condition.’

Of lofts I know nothing
My lofts are ‘open and exposed’ and the wind has free rein. During the day, my hens are in an aviary (with an open front) while my cocks stay in the loft. My youngsters have the choice of going into the aviary or not. 
A loft should above all be ‘cosy’, both for the fancier and the pigeon itself. It has to be pleasant, and then you are already a step in the right direction. Being comfortable means no chilly, damp lofts and that is why the racing pigeons' lofts have ATX heating panels. In case of too big differences between day and night or too high humidity, these heating plates do their job. I used to think I was being ‘clever’ and drove up the temperature as the basketing date approached but this turned out as much good as bad, so I don't do that any more. ’ 

A “jewel” like ‘Zoe’ as ‘leading lady’ 

We could put several toppers of the Eijerkamp-Paalman colony in the spotlight, but the performance of one lady, namely ‘Zoe’ (NL22-8229093), still stands out head and shoulders above the rest and that is why we like to put her performance in the spotlight extra:

1st World Best Pigeon short distance Europe 2024
1st Nat. ace short distance/middle distance “De Allerbeste” 2024
1st Nat. ace short distance World Best Pigeon FCI 2024
1st Nat. ace short distance/middle distance Pipa Ranking 2024
9th Nat. ace short distance/middle distance Pipa Ranking 2023
Won 8 x 1/1000  
1st Prov. Charleville 13.310b. 
1st Tongeren 2,620b. 
2nd Prov. Chalons 14,539b. 
2nd Heusden 6,324b. 
3rd Prov. Marche 24,807b. 
4th Prov. Bierges 17,843b. 
5th Prov. Dizy 23,938b. 
9th Prov. Marche 9,820b. 

‘Zoe’, meanwhile, has received a ticket towards Eijerkamp Hans & Evert-Jan's breeding loft. 

But even these toppers should not be ashamed of their performance 

With healthy excitement heading into the 2025 season

Arnold: ‘Let's say that I am with a healthy tension for the 2025 season. Some toppers have now got a breeding box with family Eijerkamp and with a young and less experienced racing team it is always a matter of wait and see. I am looking forward to the speed races, but for the one-day long distance it is also a matter of ‘seeing what will happen’. 

UNIQUE OFFER !

Hans and Evert-Jan Eijerkamp offer in this edition of Pigeon Bids a superb group op 2024-birds all bred out of the best racers of combination Eijerkamp-Paalman.

A 5-star offer of children out of following topbirds
"Zoe": 1st World Best Pigeon Europe FCI short distance 2024 - 1st Nat. ace "De Allerbeste" short/middle distance 2024 - 1st Nat. ace short/middle distance Pipa Ranking - 1st Charleville 13,310b. - 1st Tongeren 2,620b. - 2nd Prov. Chalons 14,539b. - 2nd Heusden 6,324b. - 3rd Marche 24,807b. - 4th Bierges 17,843b. - 5th Dizy 23,938b. - 9th Marche 9,820b. and so on
"Amber": 3rd Nat. ace WHZB/NPO middle distance 2024
"Cherie": 3rd Nat. ace Yearlings Pipa Ranking 2023
"Puck": 4th Nat. ace Allround "De Allerbeste" 2024 - 1st Nat. Chalons 11,002b. - 2nd Prov. Bierges 17,843b. - 6/8,973b. - 7/6,324b. - and so on
"Lotte": 10th Nat. ace "De Allerbeste" short/middle distance 2024
"Unique Wing": 5/9,569b. and so on
"Sofia": 1/3,657b. - 2/9,820b. - 5/8,109b. - 9 Nat. 11,002b. -9/5,271b. and so on
"Nika": 1st Prov. ace "Natour" Afdeling 9 - won 5 x 1/1000
"Wacko": 4th Prov. ace Short distance "Afdeling 9" - 2024 and 5th Prov. ace Middle Distance "Afdeling 9" - 2024
"Burbon": 1st/3,284b. - 1st/1,224b. - 2/5,339b. - 2nd/3,077b. - 8/5,031b. and so on
"Lars": 2/9,384b. - 10/9,820b. - and so on
"Bo": 2/5,260b. - 4/6,324b. - 4/3,106b. and so on

A never seen high quality auction ! 

This internetauction ends Monday 31st March at 2 p.m. (c.e.t.)