Pierre BOUCHARD from Péruwelz, King of Speed Races with Already 23 First Prizes in 2025

Pierre Bouchard is a speed racing enthusiast, feared by all in our Western Hainaut region, as he consistently delivers top performances in this discipline every week. Now 66 years old and retired from the SNCB (Belgian Railways), Pierre Bouchard—well known on social media under the nickname "Bou Pi"—is married to Katty and lives in Péruwelz, just a few kilometers from the French border.

Although Péruwelz is not the most favorable location for speed races—since it’s one of the shortest points in his speed racing group and he sometimes has to make up nearly 40 km against fanciers based in Flanders (Onkerzeel) or near the Flemish border—this doesn’t stop him from claiming numerous first prizes. On top of that, his pigeons must be real acrobats to land, as the lofts are located in the city center near a multi-story building, meaning they must navigate obstacles, which causes some loss of time. That’s why Pierre Bouchard also uses a “manoeuvre” pigeon called a Figurita, often used by speed fanciers in Flanders, to help lure the racing pigeons in more quickly.

History and Origins of the Loft

It’s fair to say that Pierre Bouchard has been immersed in pigeon racing his whole life. At just 6 years old, he was already accompanying his father Paul to the lofts, actively participating in basketing the pigeons. This hands-on experience gave him the opportunity to handle birds from the champions of the time and learn from seasoned veterans.

In 2016, after the passing of his father—who was also a great speed racing champion—all the pigeons were given away. In 2018, Pierre started again from scratch with just a few birds in a small loft. That year, he visited Bernard Van Renterghem in Pipaix, multiple-time National KBDB champion in speed and short middle-distance races, to buy a latebred inbred male from the foundation pair. He was also lent, for three years and for two rounds of eggs, a 2012 cock, a good racer, directly from André Roodhooft (via egg purchase). Pierre could choose this cock from among ten pigeons, along with three young birds offered as a gift.

To this base, he added two hens received and selected from the breeding loft of Rony & Geert Boschmans (Herne), excellent fanciers and friends of Pierre. The cross of these pigeons was immediately successful. In the very first year, the "144" was born, who went on to become the Ace Pigeon Speed Young Birds in the EPR Hainaut-Brabant Wallonia region. Pierre also won the championship with the first two nominated birds in the border federation.

Since this cross continues to deliver excellent results, Pierre has kept this pair unchanged since 2018.

To these foundational lines, he added pigeons from various other fanciers:

• Jean Calonne (Péruwelz)
• J.&G. Goemaere (Havinnes) – via exchange
• Jan, Paul & Bart Seghers (Zottegem) – via exchange
• Albert Murez-Marichal (Wadelincourt)
• Pierre Cambier (Bury) – via exchange
• Jacques Chevalier (Boussu) – as a gift to Pierre’s wife
• Eddy Claes (Kortenaken) – via a voucher purchase

For the past few years, he’s also had yearly exchanges (with 100% success) with Roger Engelen (Dessel), a winner of numerous National, Provincial, and Olympic Ace Pigeons, despite having one of the smallest lofts in the Antwerp region.

Noteworthy as well are the recent acquisitions via Freddy Coppens from Ninove, which include birds of Dehon-Demonseau (Thulin), Léo Heremans (Vorselaar), and Dirk Van Den Bulck (Grobbendonk) bloodlines.

Loft Composition, Method, and Care

This is a very small colony in terms of numbers. Pierre Bouchard has only 15 breeding pairs. Due to lack of space at home, these breeders are housed at his mother’s place, in the old lofts of his late father.

As for the racers, there are only a few: 11 old cocks and 6 yearlings, including 2 hens—17 adult racers in total for the 2025 season.

Breeders and racers are paired at the end of November. The racers raise their two young before being separated, then are re-paired in March for 4 to 5 days before being separated again before the hens lay. Around 30 youngsters are bred and raced each year. However, due to major construction work around their home by the town of Péruwelz (large crane, noise, disturbances, etc.), Pierre Bouchard decided not to race young birds in 2025. The first two rounds were sold, and he kept only about ten, which will be trained in 2026.

It’s also worth mentioning that the construction work has just started this August and will last a year, likely jeopardizing the 2026 racing season.

The installations consist of small, custom-built lofts, narrow due to the limited lawn space. Each compartment houses only a few birds, with many empty perches. Selection is strict—only the very best are kept each year, based solely on performance in speed races.

Walking into these small lofts, you feel good—everything is designed for the pigeons' well-being, and the cleanliness, both on the floor and in the boxes, is truly impressive. Katty, Pierre’s wife, doesn’t hesitate to lend a hand in the daily management of the loft.

Each loft contains a bouquet of mint—a repellent plant that gives off a pleasant smell. Due to the limited space, Pierre cannot race longer distances, which is why he focuses solely on speed races.

Pierre Bouchard is a true metronome—methodical, organized, meticulous, just like his father was. Nothing is left to chance. Every morning follows the same routine: up at 6 a.m., releasing the 15 cocks first, then the 2 hens. After their morning flight, the hens are locked in their boxes until the next day.

During the hour-long free flight, Pierre cleans the floors, scrapes the boxes, changes the drinking water, refills individual feeders, etc. To get the birds back in, he drops a few peanuts into small metal cans fixed inside each box. The sound of the peanuts hitting the metal echoes and signals the birds outside, prompting them to rush back into the loft.

The racers fly once a day in the morning, depending on the weather. The widowers fly for over an hour without any sign of stopping.

Feeding Strategy

Pierre Bouchard has trusted Versele-Laga mixtures for years. His widowers are individually fed in their boxes using Black Label Master Relax, and starting Wednesday they receive Black Label Master Widowhood, along with peanuts placed in their respective small metal tins. Minerals (from Herbots or Columbi) are also given in each box upon return from races, as Pierre believes minerals are essential after a flight.

Throughout the year, garlic cloves are permanently placed in all drinking water containers. Vitamins are given occasionally, but not regularly. Pierre prefers to rotate them rather than use the same brand consistently. One week he might use Multivitamin Gold (Giantel), and the next Animovit (Herbots).

Every two weeks, he adds DHP Cultura Broncho—a plant-based respiratory cleanser—to the drinking water.

Before basketting, Pierre ensures all 17 racers are well hydrated by individually administering clean water using a small syringe fitted with a rubber tube—he wants to be certain that each pigeon has had enough to drink before the race.

And since Pierre enters only a small number of pigeons per race, for their well-being, each pigeon is placed in a basket occupying two spaces. To avoid injuring his birds, he does not target championships, prioritizing weather conditions and the welfare of the pigeons.

Upon returning from races, the pigeons receive electrolytes or glucose (Natural/Herbots) in their drinking water. In the evening, Pierre gives each bird:

• a drop of Geel Diertje (yellow drop – Koehoorn) in the beak, and
• a brewer’s yeast tablet (Biover).

Each Wednesday, the pigeons also receive a bath. For this, Pierre prepares a mint infusion (a handful of mint boiled and poured into 10 liters of water), which he believes is more toning for the muscles and less drying for the feathers than bath salts.

Medical Care

• Racers are vaccinated against pox and paramyxovirus.
• Young birds are vaccinated against rotavirus and pox.
• A 10-day treatment is done at the end of the season (either with Parastop or Baytril).

Tips and Motivation Tricks

Pierre Bouchard shares some tried-and-tested motivational techniques used in his loft:

• Add a removable perch to the door or elsewhere and make it available on basketing day to awaken territorial instincts.
• Keep some locked boxes in each section closed most of the time, then open them before basketing or at key moments—some pigeons will claim them and become more competitive.
• Although birds are fed individually, a communal feeder is also placed on the floor to motivate pigeons, especially those housed in the lower boxes.
• For the two yearling hens, while they’re raced on the classic widowhood system early in the season, Pierre switches to nesting at the end of the season. Once they lay, he adds extra straw to the nest to stimulate maternal instinct, removes the eggs to an incubator, returns them when pecked, and closes the box when the chicks hatch—this greatly enhances their motivation.
• When preparing the hens, they are released individually every two minutes, a few kilometers away, ideally in the direction of the race.

Racing Record of Pigeon 1118390/22 “Le Claes”

2023–2024 Results:

• Ecouen:
  • Local: 1st / 740
  • Overall: 1st / 1150
• Pont:
  • Local: 1st / 789
  • Overall: 4th / 1465
• Pont:
  • Local: 1st / 477
  • Overall: 1st / 789
• Ecouen:
  • Local: 1st / 305
  • Overall: 1st / 490
• Ecouen:
  • Local: 3rd / 467
  • Overall: 4th / 957
• Ecouen:
  • Local: 3rd / 287
  • Overall: 4th / 526
• Ecouen:
  • Local: 5th / 409
  • Overall: 11th / 1395

2025 Results:

• Pont:
  • Local: 1st / 371 (old birds), 1st / 672 (old + yearlings)
  • Overall: 1st / 733 (old), 1st / 1299 (old + yearlings)
• Pont:
  • Local: 2nd / 307 (old), 2nd / 624 (all)
  • Overall: 2nd / 659 (old), 2nd / 1240 (all)
• Pont:
  • Local: 4th / 193, 4th / 354
  • Overall: 6th / 575, 9th / 1020
• Pont:
  • Local: 7th / 323, 14th / 569
  • Overall: 10th / 670, 19th / 1171
    (returned injured afterward)

2025 Loft Results

(Only races where Pierre placed 1st Overall — the full prize list is too long!)

• 19/04 Pont
  • 910 old birds: 1st, 27th, 29th … 10/11 prizes
  • 1,541 (all): 1st, 36th, 38th … 13/16 prizes (3rd best fancier out of 3,344 pigeons)
• 26/04 Ecouen
  • 733 old birds: 1st, 3rd, 6th, 11th, 17th … 8/10
  • 1,299 (all): 1st, 3rd, 13th, 22nd … 12/13 (1st best fancier out of 3,362)
• 04/05 Pont
  • 575 old birds: 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th … 10/10
  • 1,020 (all): 1st, 2nd, 9th, 10th, 13th … 13/13 (2nd best fancier out of 2,336)
• 10/05 Pont
  • 624 old birds: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 14th, 15th … 10/11
  • 1,240 (all): 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th … 15/19 (4th, 7th, 9th best fancier out of 3,006)
• 17/05 Pont
  • 528 yearlings: 1st, 8th … 4/6
  • 1,057 (all): 1st, 12th, 16th, 30th … 15/17 (1st best fancier out of 1,120)
• 12/07 Pont
  • 344 old birds: 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th, 14th … 10/11
  • 587 (all): 1st, 5th, 7th, 12th, 14th, 19th … 15/16 (1st best fancier out of 1,383)

Conclusion

As you can see, the 2025 results so far are very impressive. For reference, Pierre Bouchard achieved 30 first prizes in 2024 (including pooled results), and in 2025 he is already at 23 first prizes, with a prize percentage close to 89%, even though young birds weren’t raced this year.

Congratulations to Katty and Pierre Bouchard, from the Herbots Team, for these remarkable speed race results achieved with very few pigeons per race. It wouldn’t be surprising to soon see Pierre Bouchard’s name at the top of the national RFCB Speed Championships and in the RFCB Ace Pigeon rankings, considering the excellent management and the high quality of the pigeons, which I had the pleasure of handling.

– Bernard Henry