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The genes behind the successes – Exclusive from the colony Bram ten Klei (Zuidoostbeemster-NL)

25 Aug 2026

Anyone looking at the results of Bram ten Klei from Zuidoostbeemster can only come to one conclusion: the form in the loft is once again excellent. In both the race from Duffel and the subsequent race from Cambrai, Bram showed that his pigeons can not only arrive early but, above all, perform with remarkable consistency. With this, Bram ten Klei once again confirms his reputation as one of the strong-performing fanciers in the shorter and middle-distance races.

Dominance from Cambrai

On August 22, 2026, the pigeons were released from Cambrai at 08:50. 53 participants with 1,092 pigeons entered the race. Bram ten Klei's first pigeon arrived as the 1st of 1,092 pigeons, with a speed of 1,315.878 meters per minute. As if that were not enough, his second pigeon followed in 2nd place with 1,289.277 meters per minute. But it didn't stop there. Further down the results, the name Ten Klei remained prominently present. His pigeons finished 18th, 19th, and 22nd, among others, while he also claimed places 53, 65, 70, 79, and 98. In total, he won 22 prizes out of 27 entered pigeons, good for a prize percentage of over 81 percent.

**A hit from Duffel as well**

A week earlier, on August 16, 2026, he also struck gold. The pigeons were released at 08:15 from Duffel Brandweer. The results shown listed 57 participants and 1,213 pigeons. Here too, Bram ten Klei was immediately at the top. His first pigeon took 1st place with a speed of 1,393.261 meters per minute. With this, he convincingly stayed ahead of the competition. This hen is a half-sister of Lot 5 + 6 + 9 in the current P-bids. Subsequently, a whole series of Ten Klei's pigeons came to the fore once again. In the top 100, we find his name in the 21st, 22nd, 27th, 43rd, 64th, 65th, 66th, 70th, and 94th positions, among others. According to the results, out of the 32 pigeons entered, he won 22 prizes, or nearly 69 percent prize winners.

**No fluke**

Moreover, the recent results fit the picture that has emerged around Bram ten Klei over the past few years. In 2025, he already had an exceptional season, including provincial championships in sprint, middle distance, and young bird races. Nationally, that year he became, among other achievements, 2nd Unnominated Champion Sprint NPO/WHZB.

Provincial championships 2025

  • 1st Unassigned Middle Distance
  • 1st Unassigned Young Long Distance 250-550km
  • 1st Pigeon Champion Young Long Distance 250-550km (25-451)
  • 1st Best Loft Sprint
  • 1st Best Loft Young Long 250-550km
  • 1st Best Loft Young Total 100-550km
  • 2nd Best Loft Middle Distance
  • 2nd Nominated Young Total 100-550km
  • 3rd Pigeon Champion Young Total 100-550km (25-401)
  • 3rd Designated Super Sprint
  • 4th Unassigned Young Bird Total 100-550km
  • 4th Assigned Young Bird Short 100-250km
  • 4th Pigeon Champion Young Bird Short 100-250km (25-402)
  • 4th Pigeon Champion Young Long 250-550km (25-415)
  • 4th Pigeon Champion Young Total 100-550km (25-449)
  • 6th Young Bird Champion Long Distance 250-550km (25-401)
  • 7th Nominated Sprint
  • 7th Nominated Young Bird Long Distance 250-550km
  • 10th Young Bird Champion Total 100-550km (25-497)

 

National results 2025 (NPO/WHZB)

  • 2nd Unassigned Champion Sprint
  • 4th Assigned Champion Young Birds
  • 8th Pigeon Champion Young Birds (25-401)
  • 8th PIPA ranking Best Young Bird Sprint (25-402)
  • 14th Undesignated Champion Middle Distance
  • 22nd Best Fancier Undesignated
  • 27th Undesignated Champion Young Birds
  • 29th Young Bird Champion (25-449)

 

National 2024

  • 7th Unnominated Champion NPO Sprint
  • 7th Ace Pigeon NPO Sprint (22-424)
  • 18th Nominated Champion NPO Sprint

 

Provincial 2024

  • 1st Unnominated Middle Distance
  • 1st Nominated Middle Distance
  • 2nd Loft Performance Middle Distance
  • 2nd Loft Performance Sprint
  • 2nd Ace Pigeon Sprint (22-424)
  • 2nd Nominated Young Short
  • 3rd Unnominated Young Short
  • 4th Unnominated Sprint
  • 6th Ace Pigeon Young Short (24-257)
  • 8th Loft Performance Young Short
  • 6th Nominated Sprint
  • 20th Ace Pigeon Middle Distance (22-452)

 

National 2023

  • 1st Podium of Grandmasters Sprint
  • 3rd Unnominated Champion NPO Sprint
  • 14th Ace Pigeon N.P.O. Sprint (21-139)
  • 27th Ace Pigeon N.P.O. Sprint (22-452)
  • 16th Nominated Champion N.P.O. Sprint
  • 20th Best fancier N.P.O. Unnominated
  • 27th Best fancier N.P.O. Nominated
  • 30th Unnominated Champion N.P.O. Middle Distance
  • 38th F.C.I. World Best Pigeons ”MIDDLE DISTANCE” (22-489)
  • 48th Nominated Champion N.P.O. Young Pigeons

 

Provincial 2023

  • 1st Unnominated Sprint
  • 1st Nominated Young Total
  • 1st Loft Performance Sprint
  • 1st Loft Performance Middle Distance
  • 3rd Ace Pigeon Sprint (21-139)
  • 4th Nominated Sprint
  • 4th Nominated Young Long Distance
  • 5th Unnominated Middle Distance
  • 6th Unnominated Super Sprint
  • 6th Ace Pigeon Sprint (22-452)
  • 7th Nominated Middle Distance
  • 7th Ace Pigeon Middle Distance (22-489)
  • 7th Loft Performance Young Long Distance

 

Bram also achieved strong results again in 2026:

 

Duffel 160km 3,202d.: 1-2-3-4-14-15-22-30-78-79-88-90 34 prizes out of 36

Bavel 104km 513d.: 1-2-3-4-5-6-20-29-30-39 14 prizes out of 15

Bierges 199km 1,948d.: 1-2-8-23-27-29-30-31-32-33-56-57-68-78 41 prizes out of 59

Duffel 160km 1,213d.: 1-21-22-27-38-43-64-65-66-70-93 22 prizes out of 32

Bierges 199km 3,152d.: 1-5-9-19-20-33-57-62-80-92 29 prizes out of 34

Cambrai 289km 1,092d.: 1-2-18-19-22-52-63-65-79-80-98 22 prizes out of 27

Duffel 160km 2,299d.: 2-5-13-14-73-80-81-82 33 prizes out of 65

Bavel 104km 1,991d.: 2-3-5-6-17-27-30-47-54-61-78 31 prizes out of 58

Quievrain 249km 1,613d.: 3-9-10-18-20-24-25-27-33-34-35-36-37-40-81-82-83-84 42 prices of 50

 

22-8352424 Femke (daughter of the foundation pair) and in the auction lot 4 ( child "Femke")

1st Pigeon Champion Sprint PV BEP 2024 

1st Pigeon Champion Sprint Circle 2 CC2B 2024

1st Pigeon Champion Sprint Dept. 6 Circle 2 2024

2nd Pigeon Champion Sprint Dept. 6 North Holland 2024

7th Pigeon Champion Sprint National NPO 2024 

Morlincourt/Noyon 354km 1/1550 p. en 5/6262 p. (Prov.) 

Quievrain 249km 1/1966 p. 

Vitry-en-Artois 277km 2/11049 p. (Prov.) after loftmate 2/3028 p. 

Quievrain 249km 2/3427 p. 

Quievrain 249km 3/1029 p. 

Duffel 160km 4/3624 p. 

Quiévrain 249km 4/1825 p. 

Duffel 160km 11/10552 p. (Prov.) 

Roosendaal 115km 70/14655 p. (Prov.) 

Niergnies 289km 71/5734 p. (Prov.) 

Quiévrain 249km 84/4083 p. 

Success at the one-day loft race in Slovenia

In 2024, Bram proved his class at the Avirings one-day loft race in Slovenia by impressively winning the 600-kilometer super final. It was the crowning achievement of his participation, after he had already excelled a year earlier – in 2023 – with a win in the 400-kilometer semi-final. 

AviRings Derby Slovenia 2023

NL23-9214600 “AviRings Rocket”: 1st place in the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 p.), 6th ace pigeon total and 8th ace pigeon average speed total

NL23-9214599 20th place in the Semi-final (400 km/1,321 p.)

AviRings Derby Slovenia 2024

NL24-8314264 “Grizzle Billy”: 1st place Extra Final (600 km) Buy 1 in the auction

BRAM TEN KLEI (Zuidoostbeemster-NL)

With a strong stock built up from top pigeons, bloodlines such as “De Jan” (Leo Heremans), ‘Kittel’ (Dirk van den Bulck), “De Lamme” (Jef Claeskens) via Albert Roording, Gerard Timmer, and René Krijger in the loft. Targeted reinforcement for the one-day long distance was found via Gino Clicque, Vandenheede F&J,  Peter Crans & Arie Dijkstra and recently also from Jos Thoné – Avril line. Bram selected 9 pigeons for the Herbots family, sealed with these unique bloodlines.

This auction includes:

• “24-264”: winner of the 1st Avirings Superfinal 600km 2024

• Grandchild of “Grizzle Best Kittel”, 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Speed YL 2022

• “25-404”: 5th Prov. Roosendaal out of 9,624 pigeons

• 1 offspring of “Femke”: 7th Nat. Ace Pigeon Speed

This online auction starts on 18/08/2026  and ends on 27/08/2026 at 2:00 PM

A simple approach that continues to pay off

Bram races exclusively with old and yearling hens on the widowhood system, a system that suits me perfectly. The hens stay on grids, which keeps maintenance to a minimum during the week. Cleaning takes hardly any time, which is ideal in combination with my busy schedule. At Bram's, the cocks are raced exclusively as young birds. As for training, I notice that healthy hens often take the initiative themselves. When they are in good form, they train exuberantly and with visible pleasure. As a fancier, I can enjoy that immensely. Due to my work, I sometimes get home late. In those situations, my wife or one of the children pitch in. They only take care of the feeding, and training is skipped that day. However, I have noticed that this has hardly any influence on performance. For me, that is yet another proof that strong health and sufficient rest in the loft are of great importance. This system fits perfectly with my way of life. As long as the results remain good, I see no reason to change my approach.

 

Before basketing, I often motivate my hens by showing them the cocks. That method gives the pigeons just that extra bit of spirit. However, I have noticed that hens that do not get to see a cock are also capable of flying exceptionally fast. When showing them, I leave the cocks and hens together in their breeding boxes for about half an hour, with the nest bowl included. During that period, I see them gradually calm down. As soon as they are lying relaxed, I quietly take the hens out of the loft to basket them. My young pigeons are not separated during the season. They train once a day, in the morning. As soon as I leave for work, they come back inside on their own. In the past, I did experiment with separating the youngsters, but to be honest, I noticed hardly any difference in performance. That is why this natural approach works excellently for me. In preparation for the flying season, I start training as soon as weather conditions permit. In good weather, I take the youngsters to Amsterdam in the morning. After release, they fly back to the loft independently. I start with short distances of about 2 kilometers and gradually build them up to approximately 25 kilometers.

Only the young pigeons are darkened. From early March to early July, the loft is darkened from 18:30 to 06:00. After that, I switch to artificial lighting: from 06:00 in the morning to 22:30 in the evening. I continue doing this until the last young pigeon race in September. Within my system, the old pigeons are neither darkened nor artificially lit.

 

The old pigeons feeding schedule

On Sunday morning, they are fed generously with 45% Versele Laga Gerry Plus / 45% purification mix and 10% P40. The food is moistened with a little Curol, and Winmix from Comed and occasionally Carbo from pigeonHP are added to the feed. They also have access to a small pot of minerals from Dr. Marien every day and regularly receive the well-known multimix from De Patagoon. At every feeding, they receive approximately one small can of tomatoes (70 grams) per 4 pigeons; I adjust the quantity by feel. After 2 nights in the basket, on Sunday, the pigeons receive a combination treatment from Stefan Göbel or a BS treatment from De Weerd in the water for disinfection. On Monday, and often on Tuesday as well, the pigeons receive 45% Versle Laga Gerry plus / 45% purification and 10% P40. A handful of fresh peanuts is also fed at every feeding. Winmix from Comed is added to the food again at that time. On Wednesday and Thursday mornings, the mixture consists of 70% Gerry plus / 20% NPO-mix / 10% P40 and a handful of peanuts per feeding. If the races are a bit tougher, they receive more Sport instead of Gerry Plus. On Thursday evening, they receive 50% Gerry Plus / Sport, 30% NPO Mix, and 20% P40. Depending on the race, they receive 1.5 to 2 times the normal amount. On a race with two days in the basket, they already receive a little extra food on Thursday morning. On Friday, the pigeons receive the normal amount of Gerry Plus in the morning and in the evening. On the short sprint races, they only receive a little Zoontjes feed in the evening. Before basketing for the tougher races, I want to replace the Gerry Plus with a little NPO Mix. A little grit is always mixed into the feed so that the pigeons are offered fresh grit every day. Additionally, feeding is done by feel; depending on the weather forecast and the distance, more/heavier or less/lighter feed is given. On Saturday, upon arrival, a generous mixture of Zoontjes/Embregts NPO Mix/Gerry Plus is waiting on the ground. Approximately 1-2 hours after returning home, the cocks are removed and the perches are placed back in front of the breeding boxes. They are also fed generously at this time. Belgasol is then added to the water, and for more demanding flights, Recup Fast from pigeonHP is added. The hens are then given a rest to recover from the flight.

The young pigeon feeding schedule

After weaning, the young pigeons receive sufficient Versele Laga breeding mix until about a month before the flights. I keep the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds together in one loft. Therefore, there must always be sufficient food available. In the run-up to the racing season, they receive the Versele Laga young pigeon mixture, supplemented with grit and P40. They also receive about one small can of tomatoes per four pigeons. Depending on the weather, they sometimes receive a little more. I stick to this schedule during the first flights, and as the flights get longer, I switch to a mixture of Sport, P40, and NPOmix. From weaning onwards, the youngsters receive Röhnfried Avidress Plus in their drinking water every day. I have been doing this for three years now, and I haven't had any real trouble with E. coli since using this product. The youngsters are vaccinated twice against paramyxovirus: once immediately after weaning and once after the last youngsters have been weaned. In principle, I race the entire young bird program because I want them to gain as much experience as possible.

 

Breeding

I select the pairs based on pedigree, build, and a large degree of intuition. Furthermore, I only breed youngsters from the breeding pairs and the best racing pigeons. I usually pair the breeding pigeons at the end of December and the racing pigeons at the end of January. I can then get 3 rounds of youngsters from the breeding pigeons. For myself, I breed around 60 youngsters to race.