Van Herreweghe-Mannes (Meerbeke) 1st Prov. ace KBDB East-Flanders Great Middle Distance old birds 2nd World Best Pigeon ½ Fond 2023

Meerbeke: For years a whole nation has been able to enjoy the arrival in Meerbeke of "Vlaanderens Mooiste" De Ronde Van Vlaanderen . From 1973 to 2011 this was a true "place of pilgrimage" for true "cycling fans" , the very greatest have thrown their arms in the air there. At the first edition in 1973 over a distance of 260 km and at an average speed of 41.37 per hour and after 6.17 hours on the bike we had Eric Leman as the winner after an exciting sprint with Freddy Maertens . He would win "De Ronde" three times . The last finish in Meerbeke took place in 2011 and was won by Nick Nuyens . The organiser in Meerbeke and the man who took care of it together with his committee was Willy Verlé. As a drummer, I took care of the performance of "De Ronde Van Vlaanderen" together with a few other Semi Prof musicians for several years. But we are not here for "the race" .

FROM SPEED TO HEAVY MIDDLE-DISTANCE !
Nico Van Herreweghe inherited pigeon sport from his father, as a small "pagadder" he was very busy in the loft. They played pure speed , later when he and his wife Caroline moved to Meerbeke in 2011 he would dominate speed. Quievrain was his favourite race and he did it with the type of father and Platteau Kristof . In 2013 the strain of Peter Stakenborg came into the loft . For years he would play this game . Year after year, fewer pigeons took part in this surely popular race until in...

2016 MADE THE SWITCH !
Despite the tandem still winning the 1° Provincial Ace Pigeon on speed in 2015 with a 100% Stakenborg pigeon, the move to the middle and heavy middle distance became a fact. Surely most fanciers need a few years to run with it when they make such move . This was not the case here.
We can see that Nico had foreseen himself making the move by the type of pigeons he bought. The basis remained Stakenborg which was reinforced with types of Brugmans Sabrina , Jespers Vanderwege, André Roodhooft and Gevaert-Lannoo . In 2016, they immediately won a 2° Provincial La Souterraine against 4390 youngsters .

SYSTEM WITH HENS !

The difference between now and then is that on speed races, only hens were used in classic widowhood. Today, the heavy middle distance races are played exclusively with hens . At the end of November they are paired breeders and racing hens. 18 couples of breeders plus another 8 breeding couples where the eggs of the best breeding couples are put under. The eggs of the best racing hens are shifted and then they can lay again and raise this nest themselves. Once the youngsters reach a certain age, the hens are removed from the loft and go to their racing loft. For the racers old and young we use the Aidi mixtures, the hens receive a light feed on Sunday and Monday and are fed from Tuesday onwards. Wednesday and Thursday the sport mix will be full. Another food that is used for the breeders when they are resting is the Vaessen mixture that was introduced by Franky Appelmans. Probelfly is used as by-products.
At the end of February, the hens enter the racing loft where they stay until the end of the season. Once the weather permits, they are trained in small steps. Once they arrive at the races above Paris, the cocks are put in a half-box and they can see each other for about two minutes. Then they can get together for a few minutes and are basketed. In the beginning of the week they can enjoy a bath, the loft is cleaned twice a day. Once a day they are left outside for 1 hour each time , on Wednesday before basketing they are taken away for about 35 km . Grit and vitamins are always available and when they arrive home, there are electrolytes in the drinking water. The hens are basketed almost every week , if it is not a very long distance race it is Noyon . Maximum 3 middle distance races in a row.

HANDSOME RESULTS !

That it is not obvious to dominate immediately after the switch from speed to heavy hafo speaks for itself. Nico and Caroline Vanherreweghe thought otherwise because in 2016 they already scored a 2° Provincial La Souterraine against 4390 youngsters .In 2017 , 2° + 3° Provincial Issoudun with old and yearling. In 2018 they became 1° Provincial Champion East Flanders. 2° Champion Fond Young AJD-Beide Flanders ! 10° Provincial Ace Pigeon Young ! 2019, 7° National Ace Ace KBDB Yearling Great Half-Fond. In 2021 continued "farming" with 2°.3°.9°. Provincial from Chateauroux !

TOP AGAIN IN 2023 !
With the 1° Provincial Ace KBDB East Flanders Great Middle Distance !
9° National Ace Pigeon Old Large Middle Distance !
1° Provincial Vierzon 6489 Old Pigeons !
1° Zonal Argenton 1834 Old !
2° Provincial Bourges 1272 Old !
2° Champion AJD-Beide Flanders Heavy Half-Fond Old/Old !
Winner Grand Prix Arthur Knaepen with 6°.22°.39°.69° Against 21075 Old on Bourges !

YOUNG PIGEONS !

Young pigeons are weaned at the age of 25 days and get for a fortnight a full-fledged breeding mixture. After that they get a lighter mixture and once they start racing they are fed like the old pigeons. They are let out every day for 1 hour. Training the youngsters starts at 5 km and is doubled every time. They do not fly Quievrain , they are given with the company to Noyon. The loft is cleaned daily. They are darkened from the end of February from 6 pm till 8 am. Supplementary lighting is not applicable. Once they have raced Noyon, the youngsters are separated and played on half widowhood. Before basketing they come together for half an hour and on their return they can cuddle each other for 3 hours. During the day, the youngsters can go into the run. Every year we lose a few youngsters that fly to their death against the neighbour's windows, the back of our house is almost completely made of glass. And in sunny weather it sometimes happens that youngsters crash into them. This way they lose about 10 youngsters every year.

IN THE MEDICAL FIELD !
The man of science is Van Der Cruyssen Johan from Oosterzele, who is consulted for breeding and playing. During the racing season we go for a check-up every 2 to 3 weeks. Something is only given on the advice of the vet. The compulsory vaccinations for the youngsters are twice against Paramixo-Rota and for the old birds once against Paramixo. There is no vaccination against Paratyphus. Of course young pigeons are vaccinated against smallpox.

GARDEN LOFTS !
The lofts face south and have a small aviary. It is remarkable that the hens do not spend much time in the outside run. The hens are in small boxes and the floor has wooden grids. The boxes are cleaned every day, which also happens in the loft of the youngsters. There is a corridor in front of the lofts and ventilation is via the ceiling where a strip of about 50 cm is open.
They are quite dark lofts that prove to be of good quality .

EVIDENCE ON THE TABLE !
That we do it here with a rather limited colony only proves the quality of the pigeons in the lofts !

VIERZON .
356 OUDE 1°,5°,15°,20°,31°,34°,49°,93° (10/10) !
174 JL.6°,13°,20°,21°,23°,26° (11/13) !

BOURGES
476 OUDE.2°,3°,5°,7°,51° (8/10) !

CHATEAUROUX
398 OUDE.1°,11°,25°,41°,68°103° (9/10) !
304 JL.12°,29°31° (7/10) !

ARGENTON
292 OUDE 1°,8°,9°,10°,16°,26° (8/10) !
338 JL 20°,21°,35°,48° (8/10) !

ARGENTON
202 OUDE 5°,18° (4/8) !
343 JL 2°,7°,12°,15°,36°,47° (8/9) !

CHATEAUROUX
162 OUDE 6°,9°,12°,20°,25°,33° (6/7) !
291 JL 14°,22°,23°,40° (9/9) !

BOURGES
139 OUDE.2°,25° (5/6) !
316 JL 30°,47°,57° (9/9) !

BOURGES
211 OUDE 1°,2°,3°,10°,43°,52°,62° (8/11) !

JONGE DUIVEN !

ORLEANS
394 JO.5°,7°,26°,27°,35°,36° (15/25) !

BOURGES
479 JO. 1°,2°,3°,20°,65°,86°,97°,104°,107° (13/19) !

ARGENTON
463 JO 25°,29°,53° (9/14 ) !

CHATEAUROUX
323 JO 4°,6°,19°,23°,46° (9/13) !

When asked what advice Nico would give to a beginner, the answer is . "Limit your loft stock to 2 or 3 breeds. Choose a discipline and stick to it. Do not start with 100 youngsters, try to get in contact with a good and honest fancier and follow his advice, do not change your system every so often ". How do you see the future of pigeon racing ? " If pigeon sport can keep up with the technological progress , then there is still hope ". At this one, I visited a loft with a very high level of quality , their results prove it . They don't do it with the masses and they wouldn't be able to , both go to work and have two young children Thibau and Emily. Already as a young boy Nico helped in a pigeon company, basketing, making results and so on. Nowadays, together with his wife Caroline, he is very active during the pigeon season for the "EERLIJK DUURT LANGST" company in Moerbeke.

Congratulations from the whole Herbots Team.

Rudy Fosselle