Herbots | Tours: Old Pigeons

Two national victories in a single season… only a few fanciers ever achieve such a remarkable feat.

Winning a national race is already a huge achievement, but Team Demely was clearly still hungry for more. At Tours, the blue cock "Milan" (B24-3075477) added another national victory to their already impressive record.

With a little more luck, it could even have been a third national victory, as the first two old birds clocked from Tours were separated by exactly 31 seconds, good enough for 1st and 3rd National.

Almost simultaneously with the second old bird, a yearling was clocked as well, winning 8th National in its category.

For those who have lost track, here are the national results:

4,867 old birds: 1-3-300-317-393 etc. (6/9)

7,985 yearlings: 8-196-283 etc. (8/12)

The story of the three nest boxes

Is there a special motivation behind every national victory? We are becoming more and more convinced that there is.

At the Demely lofts this certainly proved to be the case, giving rise to "the story of the three nest boxes."

The nest boxes in the widowhood loft are arranged in four rows.

A few weeks before Tulle, the occupant of the bottom nest box was gone, something the cock above had clearly noticed. He eagerly claimed the vacant box and, as fate would have it, the pigeon later named "New Tulle" went on to win 1st National against 5,936 old birds.

A national winner is usually transferred to the breeding loft, and that was also the case in Moorsele. As a result, two nest boxes suddenly became vacant in the widowhood loft, something that "Milan" also noticed.

You can probably guess the rest of the story… "Milan" took possession of the vacant nest boxes and then went on to win National Tours!

Incidentally, "Milan's" racing record deserves great admiration, as he was already crowned 4th Provincial KBDB Allround Ace Pigeon last year. A true champion who knows exactly how to place his ring number at the very top of the results.

David added:

"Normally, the cocks fly two consecutive long middle-distance races before enjoying a week of rest. It is a house rule that we usually follow very strictly. However, for Tours only three cocks had benefited from a rest week, while the others were entered for a third consecutive race.

Believe it or not, the first three pigeons clocked (all of them Top 10 National performers) were exactly those that had enjoyed a week of rest.

It clearly confirms that we should continue to stick to our house rule."

Father Filip, mother Liliane, son David and grandson Milan… congratulations from the entire Herbots team, and enjoy your outstanding 2026 season!