Rex de Leeuw: Architect of a top colony in the heavy long distance
13 Oct 2025
58-year-old Rex de Leeuw from Made in Brabant has been among the absolute best in the Netherlands in recent years, proving this amply at both provincial and national level.
Rex recounts his beginnings in pigeon racing:
"In the early 1990s, I sold animal feed, which included pigeon feed. As demand for this product grew, so did my interest. In 1994, I got my first young birds and a year later, in 1995, I really started with the sport. In the beginning, my pigeons came from all kinds of fanciers - which made sense, because I visited many people. The first few years were really tough.
In 1999, I achieved my first victory in the association from Dax with “the 400”, a pigeon that was mainly descended from the Van Wanroij breed. That success prompted me to continue following that line. In 2001, I built a new loft and devoted myself entirely to marathon flights. The first group of marathon pigeons consisted mainly of descendants of that Van Wanroij cock.
His current stock is built around “De Ad”, a cock that flew 8th National Barcelona and 52nd National Perpignan, among other races. This pigeon mainly carries the blood of Eijerkamp-Müller and Van Seeters (Oosterhout). The descendants of “De Ad” were further strengthened with pigeons from Jos Martens (Stein) and Cor de Heijde – both directly and via his brother Louis de Heijde.
Rex also acquired a few pigeons through vouchers or exchanges. In recent years, pigeons were added through co-breeding with top fanciers such as Jeroen van Heumen and Cor de Heijde, further refining and strengthening his colony.
Care
The pigeons are mainly fed with Beyers mixtures. During the flying season, Rex mainly uses Galaxy Sport Light, Long Distance and Galaxy Energy. The pigeons are also given Energy Plus from Versele Laga.
For extra energy, they also receive peanuts and the Extra Energy candy mix from Beyers, so that they have sufficient reserves for the flights. After returning home, the feed is enriched with Recap from De Weerd and Belgasol is added to the drinking water.
The pigeons naturally receive the mandatory vaccinations. Rex explains the medical supervision:
"From the start of the season, I have the pigeons checked regularly – every two to four weeks – by Jan van Wanroij and/or Domien van Akker from Henk de Weerd. They do faecal tests and take throat swabs. Treatment is based on their advice: this year, once with BS and twice against the “heads”. If nothing is found, no treatment is given. After returning home, I do not disinfect.”
Rex emphasises that he is not a veterinarian himself:
“That is why I leave the checks to specialists. The season is short, so I want optimal guidance, but certainly not blind treatment.”
The System
Rex starts the season with 90 racing pigeons and also has 23 breeding pairs. In the spring, he tries to give his pigeons as much training as possible, so that they have already completed between 1,500 and 2,000 kilometres of training flights before the real work begins.
During the preseason, Rex releases the pigeons once a day, in the evening. This is partly due to his work – training in the morning is difficult during the dark season – but also with the aim of deliberately tempering their form. That is why the lofts are darkened and the pigeons are released irregularly.
From three weeks before the first marathon flight, the pigeons train twice a day for over an hour. Then they really have to fly well.
Rex races his pigeons from the nest, a system he feels most comfortable with and which gives him the most pleasure. He enjoys “fiddling” with his pigeons: extra nesting boxes, nests in the straw on the floor, a small board or feeding bowl near the nesting dish – small adjustments that help to increase motivation.
His loft is a 14-metre garden shed, with:
• 2 sections for 20 pairs of old birds
• 2 sections for the yearlings
• 2 sections for the young birds
Although they are separate sections, the connecting door between the old birds is always open. This increases motivation and gives the pigeons the opportunity to claim an extra spot or nesting box. Both sections have more nesting boxes and small nesting boxes than strictly necessary, so that Rex can play with them. The open door also helps pigeons whose partner has left to find a new mate.
In winter, the pigeons stay in the loft of the young bird loft. Between Christmas and New Year, they are separated and the cocks are placed on the nesting boxes.
Around 20 March, Rex pairs all the pigeons again. During the training flights, they lay eggs several times, via the sprint and middle distance flights, but also via flights of about 400 km from Hank.
Rex considers one night in the basket essential for his breeding pigeons. The pigeons are only entered for the first marathon race when they are young, so that they do not waste unnecessary energy in the preseason and are optimally motivated.
Rex prefers to basket his pigeons when the youngsters are five to six days old, as this is when he achieves the best results. He always races with entire teams, and all old birds must fly two marathon races. This means that sometimes pigeons on eggs or older youngsters also participate, but this regularly leads to excellent performances.
Thanks to this approach, Rex has built up a truly all-round long-distance stock within his colony over the years.
Achievements in recent years
2024
International
• 1st PIPA IATP Ranking across all international flights
• 1st European Cup with the first nominated bird
Former ZLU
• 1st National Dax with 'Georgina'
• 2nd ZLU Marathon (8 nominated)
• 6th Western European Super Marathon
• 7th ZLU Marathon
• 4th ZLU Long Distance Champion
Division 2 Brabant 2000
• 1st Prov. Dax, ‘Georgina’
• 3rd Prov. Marseille
• 4th, 5th and 6th Prov. Agen
• 3rd Prov. St. Vincent
• 4th Prov. Bergerac
2023
ZLU
• 3rd National Barcelona
• 22nd National Pau
• 5th Western European Olympiad Marathon
• 9th ZLU Marathon (8 nominated)
• 11th Ace Pigeon Barcelona 3 years, “Bets”
• 15th Ace Pigeon ZLU, “Daphne”
PIPA
• 9th PIPA IATP Overall Ranking
• 5th European hen in all international races (3 prizes), “Daphne”
Section 2 Brabant 2000
• 1st Prov. Pau
• 1st Prov. Barcelona
2022
ZLU
• 1st Super Prestige
• 3rd Pyrenees Cup
• 4th Keizer Long Distance
• 4th ZLU Long Distance Champion
• 3rd Ace Pigeon Narbonne 3 years, “Beautiful Narbonne”
• 3rd Ace Pigeon Narbonne 4 years, “Beautiful Narbonne”
• 9th Ace Pigeon Champion all ZLU races, “Christiane”
• 9th Ace Pigeon Agen Old, “Best Wimpie”
• 11th ZLU Marathon Champion
• 2nd National Narbonne, “Beautiful Narbonne”
• 5th National Perpignan, “Christiane”
• 11th National Tarbes, “Christiane”
PIPA
“Christiane”
• 2nd Best European hen in all international races (2 prizes)
• 3rd Best European hen in all international races (3 prizes)
• 2nd Best long distance pigeon over 2 races – PIPA NL 2022
• 7th Best Heavy Long Distance Pigeon over 3 races – PIPA NL 2022
• 15th Best European Old Bird in the long distance races (2 prizes)
National
• 3rd General National Grand Masters ZLU Marathons
Division 2 Brabant 2000
• 1st Prov. St. Vincent, “Christiane”
• 1st Prov. Narbonne, “Beautiful Narbonne”
• 1st Prov. Perpignan, “Christiane”
Long Distance Club South Netherlands
• 1st Golden Marathon Champion
