P&T van Kester (Poeldijk) triumph in Pontoise against 22489 pigeons (Divisions 5+6)

An impressive performance for father and son Van Kester from Poeldijk: their pigeon was the fastest of 22,489 pigeons to cover the distance from Pontoise, securing a resounding victory against the combined field of participants from Divisions 5 and 6.

The P&T van Kester combination consists of Peter (64) and his son Ted (38). Peter was introduced to pigeon racing by friends in the late 1970s and has been active ever since. In 1997, his son Ted also became fascinated by the sport, and since then they have been flying successfully together as a combination. Peter worked in construction for many years and has been enjoying his well-deserved retirement since September last year. Ted has been working as a salesman at Phalaenopsis nursery Optiflor since 2007.

A strong stock as a foundation

The foundation of their sprint colony was laid with pigeons from Pieter Veenstra via Siem Berkhey, combined with pigeons from Leo van Rijn and crosses from Co Verbree. For the one-day long distance, they mainly rely on pigeons from Ton Zuiderwijk and Ronald van Zijl, whose lines go back to the Zuiderwijk brothers from Honselersdijk.

Care 

The care of the pigeons is based on Matador's ‘Athletic’ feeding schedule: ‘Start’ at the beginning of the week, ‘Athletic’ in the middle of the week and ‘Turbo’ in the last few days, supplemented with some peanuts. The combination only races with widows with hens. In terms of medical care, the pigeons receive the necessary vaccinations. All pigeons are cleaned before the start of the new season. Yellow drops from DHP are only used once a week during the racing season. In case of doubt, a veterinarian is consulted, but this has not been necessary so far this year.

Notable results

Over the years, there have been several outstanding results. For example, their hen 15-1634681 was the fastest pigeon from Peronne (252 km) in 2017 against no fewer than 42,486 pigeons. In 2019, hen 18-1798170 repeated this feat by also finishing as the fastest in the entire Section 5 from Peronne, this time against 15,909 pigeons.

Championships and titles

P&T van Kester also holds its own in terms of championships. In 2016 and 2017, they were 10th and 8th National Sprint Loft Champion respectively.

In Kring Westland 2023:

• 1st Sprint Young Birds Designated
• 1st Natour Undesignated
• 2nd General Designated and Undesignated
• 3rd One-day Long Distance Undesignated
• 5th Middle Distance Undesignated
• 3rd One-day Long Distance Designated
• 4th Middle Distance Young Birds Undesignated
• 7th Middle Distance Designated
• 5th Middle Distance Young Birds Designated
• 1st, 2nd, 5th and 10th Ace Pigeon Old Birds General

In Kring Westland 2024:

• 1st One Day Long Distance Designated
• 2nd General Designated and Undesignated
• 2nd One Day Long Distance Undesignated
• 2nd Natour Designated
• 3rd Middle Distance Young Birds Nominated
• 5th Middle Distance Young Birds Not Nominated
• 7th Sprint Nominated and Not Nominated
• 10th Middle Distance Not Nominated

In Rayon West (South Holland) 2024:

• 4th One Day Long Distance Nominated and Not Nominated
• 7th Young Birds Designated
• 10th Middle Distance Undesignated

Peter and Ted, congratulations on this wonderful victory!

Christophe Mathues