Theo & Gert Weytjens (Zutendaal) hit out hard at National Argenton
24 Jul 2025
The national race from Argenton faced unusual circumstances; the pigeons had to remain in the basket for three extra nights and were only released on Tuesday morning. The pigeons returned home perfectly and were well cared for, so credit where credit is due.
Theo & Gert Weytjens's pigeon family had almost their entire team at Argenton, and they achieved a fantastic result. They just missed out on the national victory in the yearlings' category, but otherwise, they achieved an incredible series with 10 pigeons in the top 60 nationally.
After winning 1st Nat (z) at Argenton this year and also securing a similar victory at Barcelona, this is their third zonal victory of the season. Since 2020, they have achieved a total of 19 zonal victories.
Theo and Gert would also like to thank Johan Schils for all his help with the administration and Danny Weytjens for helping with the caretaking.
Top results 2025
2 + 6 + 9 + 10 + 20 + 29 + 34 + 57 National Argenton 6,523 yearlings (562km)
28 + 41 + 96 National Argenton 4,758 old (562km)
5 + 69 + 95 National Barcelona 5,819p (1070km)
7 + 27 + 35 + 103 + 104 National Argenton 13,988p (562km)
13 + 95 National Bourges 17,189p (478km)
34 National Argenton 11,557p (562km)
System
The system here is such that both cocks and hens are raced. The intention is that the cocks won't fly all the national races to limit losses and maintain motivation in the racing team. This doesn't mean they won't fly national races; at Bourges, the first pigeon was a hen, but after that, all cocks were. Now, at Argenton, there were three cocks in the first five.
The pigeons flew a sprint race from Dizy before Argenton and will now fly a short race this coming weekend, or we'll fly them ourselves. We'll have to see what happens. Next week, the team will be racing again in the national race from Bourges.
So, they are raced on total widowhood. They were paired in the spring and were allowed to breed freely. The racing team was paired for a few weeks in the spring; half had eggs and were allowed to brood briefly. The other half wasn't paired and were then simply separated.
It's striking that these hens are still darkened, just like the youngsters, until mid-June. They are then raced until the last national race. At 5:30 PM, I put them in the dark in the evening and give them light at 7:30 AM. Now, after the longest day of the year, all the hens received additional lighting, and we continue this until the last national race of the season.
The pigeons train once a day in the morning; the cocks train first, then the hens. The hens then enter the corridor with the cocks and go straight to the aviary. In the evening, they are allowed to come in and go to the sleeping loft, which has rollers on the floor. Training now usually lasts another 20 to 30 minutes, after which they fly up again and easily walk around for half an hour each day.
The hens are raced at least every week and don't see each other when they leave. They return home and are allowed to recover before being reunited. There are always late arrivals, which demotivates the pigeons. That's why I don't release the pigeons together until the next day, in two groups for a few hours.
We use Schroeder Tollisan products and those from Next Level Pigeon Racing. We always go to Vincent Schroeder for checkups.
First arrivals Argenton
BE 24-5078641 “Kyara” Hen
1 Nat (z) Argenton 758p
2 Nat 6.523p
6 Nat (z) Argenton 641p
45 Nat (z) Argenton 606p
267 Nat 9.401p
326 Nat Bourges 17.189p
988 Nat Bourges 17.163p
Father BE 22-6164020 Tom – Jan & Tom Iwens
Brother of “F16” 1st Nat Argenton 19,592p – fastest of 27,284p
Brother of several top breeders
Son of “830/13” Vici Patrick Vervloesem x "381/14" Sunshine Van Eynde Goovaerts x Patrick Vervloesem
Mother BE 22-5026678 Blue
Sister of 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon All-Round Young KBDB 2022.
Daughter of "NL 626-20" Hangover Beute & Hansen x "630/17" Patricia Patrick Vervloesem is a daughter of super breeder "564"
BE 24-5078727 “Mathieu” Cock
3 Nat (z) Argenton 758p
6 Nat 6.523p
4 Vervins 1.106p
9 Laon 703p
10 Trelou 616p
10 Sancoins 428p
17 Laon 894p
Father BE 23-5027293 Sweet Ben
½ brother of “Remco” 1st Nat. Chateauroux 17,165 p. 2022
Son of “966/16” Ben Gaby Vandenabeele x “966/12” Sweet Libourne is a granddaughter of Libourne, 2nd Nat. Libourne 4,605 p. Patrick Vervloesem.
Mother BE 22-5026785 Martha
Sister of “Remco” 1st Nat. Chateauroux 17,165 p. 2022.
Sister of “Bentley” is the sire of superstar “Benz” 14th Nat. Bourges 19,369 p. and 19th Nat. Bourges 20,328 p. and 16th Nat. Ace Pigeon heavy Middle Distance Young KBDB 2023
Daughter of “966/16” Ben Gaby Vandenabeele x “227/12” Martine Gaby. Vandenabeele
BE 24-5078627 “Timo” Cock
3 Chimay 284p
5 Nat (z) Argenton 758p
9 Nat 6.523p
7 Nat (z) Argenton 906p
8 Trelou 764p
9 Dizy 1.539p
11 Mettet 1.271p
17 Laon 599p
536 Nat Bourges 11.056p
Father BE 21-5000173 Tim
½ brother of “Tine” 3rd Laon 1,536 p. – 3rd Sens 1,520 p. – 13th Fay 1,362 p. – 16th Chimay 2,160 p. and 40th Nat. Bourges 28,551 p. ½ brother of “001” and “002” (described under “Danny” 10th National Argenton)
Son of “689/19” Son of Golden Gilbert Leo Heremans x “NL 332/20” Inbred by Harry Jan Hooymans.
Mother BE 22-6033683 Top Class – Wim De Troy
Top breeder and dam of “110” 1st Nat. (z) Argenton 1,100p. – 4th Chimay 974p
Daughter of “035/19” Jaguar is a full brother of 1st Prov. Blois. 2,744d and 1 Nat (z) Chateauroux 5,709d x “053/20” Furious is a double granddaughter of the founding sire “Keesboer 863”
BE 24-5078592 “Danny” Cock
3 Trelou 764p
7 Nat (z) Chateauroux 953p
10 Nat Argenton 6.523p
13 Trelou 613p
64 Nat (z) Vierzon 1.109p
95 Nat Bourges 17.189p
Brother of "Queen Elisabeth," 11th Nat. Ace Pigeon heavy Middle Distance Young Birds KBDB 2022
Father BE 18-6123221 Son of Kaasboer Gold – Patrick Vervloesem
Top breeder and also sire of "802/24," 57th Nat. Vierzon
Son of "121/14" Magic 121 is a son of super breeder "564" x "339/14." Kaasboer Gold is inbred to Kaasboer Gaston Van de Wouwer.
Mother BE 21-5000002 Checkered
Won 1st Laon 1,654 p. – 1st Sens 193 p. – 28th Dizy 1,605 p
Nest sister "001." Won 1st Nanteuil 1,050 p. – 4th Sens. 2,969p – 5 Sezanne 422p – 7 Dizy 980p - 10 Dizy 1,605p
Super breeding hen
Mother of 1 Nat (z) Chateauroux 2,312p – 6 Nat Bourges – 6 Nat (z) Chateauroux 2,062p - 7 Nat Chateauroux 13,096p – 19 Nat Bourges 24,006p - 29 Nat Bourges 19,379p – 48 Nat Bourges 20,328p – 55 Nat Bourges 6,713p – 63 Nat Bourges 9,922p – 77 Nat Bourges 12,094p
Daughter of “335/17” Patron Bliksem Gaby Vandenabeele x “NL 332-20” Inbred Harry Jan Hooymans
BE 24-5078608 “Lady Boxer” Hen
1 Mettet 539p
3 Nat (z) Vierzon 1.109p
62 Nat 16.892p
20 Nat Argenton 6.523p
Father BE 21-6030128 Blue - Wim De Troy.
Son of "143/12" Last Boxer, winner of 6 national top 100 prizes and grandfather of "Wout" 1st Nat. Limoges 9,218 p. x "930/20" Daydream.
Mother BE 22-6155238 New Siska - Patrick Vervloesem
Daughter of "283/16". Sire Libourne 2nd Nat. Libourne 3,886 p. x "128/18". Siska was 4th Best Long Distance Pigeon over 6 national races in 2020
Congratulations to Theo and Gert on this fantastic victory and the result from the entire HERBOTS TEAM.
Buelens Kim
