Schaekels – De Loecker from Lennik shine at a high level in the great middle distance
01 Sep 2022
We are going to visit a still young colony. The tandem Schaekels – De Loecker from Lennik in Brussels have joined forces since 2009. In the beginning this was mainly speed, where Rudi and Mathijs usually immediately became champions, but for a few years now the focus has been slightly further and great long distance together with a few pigeons in the long distance became their domain. In that short time the performances have risen crescendo and we list a few. They won 1st National (z) Bourges against 5,243 with “Miss Bourges”, with her sister they won 1st Provincial Bourges 1,176 pigeons, this season they won 1st National (z) Issoudun with “294/21” against 2,286 yearlings and now with the youngsters they won 1st Provincial Argenton against 1,453 youngsters. In the long distance as mentioned they try it with a small team, in 2020 this resulted with the 20th National Ace pigeon long distance old KBDB and in 2021 they did even better with 13th National Ace pigeon long distance old. Growing slowly and trying to build up a breeding loft is the message here.
Being lucky in purchases
In the beginning we opted for enthusiasts from our region who made the beautiful weather several times. The first pigeons came from brother-in-law Daniel De Roock and Willy Van Drogenbroek from Koppegem. These pigeons did well at first on the speed and afterwards we went looking for pigeons for the further distance. In 2011 we went to buy a complete round from Jan Vanderweerden in Brussegem. In 2014 we visited Clement Demesmaeker for the first time and in the meantime we have become very good friends. The pigeons from then and now are all very successful. That is the luck of course that the pigeons you buy immediately grab and you can select.
In 2016 we went to a public sale of Willem De Bruyn. At that time these pigeons were still a bit affordable and we bought 3 pigeons. We crossed them with our best pigeons and the results got even better. We focused here on the line of “Zidane” from Willem and thanks to this line we have gained an even broader base in our breeding loft. We then try to move the best top racers of the past seasons to the breeding loft and thus obtain several generations of toppers in succession. The places in the breeding loft are going to be expensive that's for sure.
Rudi and Mathijs would like to thank the fanciers in advance for their honesty and the top pigeons they have obtained from this.
The racing team
The racing team is quite large because we still have a lot of pigeons to test. In the beginning we had between 70 and 80 old and yearlings together. These pigeons were coupled at the end of February and were allowed to incubate. We started to darken them after all the hens had laid until mid-April. Afterwards we started to lighten them from the longest day until the end of the season.
The pigeons are first raced on classic widowhood and are re-coupled for 2 years from the beginning of July to build a nest. We prefer to basket our pigeons at the end of breeding for Bourges II. The pigeons always train here 1x a day and preferably in the morning, we like to see our pigeons hanging in the air for one hour, whether or not mandatory.
When basketing, the pigeons are taken away without motivation and when they return home they are allowed to see each other. They certainly do not stay together for long in the beginning, this is a maximum of 2 hours after returning home from a flight. The hens enter the breeding loft after each training before they move on to the resting loft. They fly almost every week and therefore they do not mate with each other.
The youngsters are mainly raced for the purpose of gaining a lot of experience. To date, they have raced speed several times, Sermaises, Orléans and Vierzon. Some of them have now flown Argenton and we will see which pigeons are still participating in the last national race of the season. The sexes are only separated after 2 flights and they do not come together at basketing. We prefer to take them away once a week so that they know the system and go into the basket quietly. When they return home, they are allowed to stay together until the morning of the following day.
In terms of nutrition, we use the Beyers Premium mixtures and their products. Especially Royal Jelly, Bioflorum, Energy Oil with conditioning powder and Recovery are the main products we use from them. In the field of tricho, we go for an annual check-up with Dr. Bjorn Geeroms and to date the racing pigeons have had 3x yellow drops and nothing else.
Some toppers introduced
BE 19-2011568 “Miss Bourges” Hen
1 Nat (z) Bourges 5.243b
5 Nat 34.311b
4 Sermaises 1.687b
6 Argenton 853b
17 Etampes 2.443b
26 Sermaises 3.469b
32 Chateauroux 1.215b
44 Argenton 1.224b
87 Sermaises 4.310b
Sire NL 16-1864940 Son Vrolyk – Willem De Bruijn
Superbreeder
Father from “540/19” 21 Nat Ace Middle Distance old birds KBDB
Father from “601/19” 1 Sermaises 4.310b – 1 Prov Bourges 1.176b ( 16 Nat 8.424b )
Full brother from “Heracles” 5 Nat Ace young birds NPO
Son from “Son Zidane Base breeder Willem De Bruijn x Olympic Ranomi” x “Vrolyk” 18 Nat Ace bird
Mother BE 15-2009155 Chequered
Won herself 1 Noyon 357b – 4 Montlucon 508b – 7 Vierzon 651b
Full sister “277/16” 1 Prov Blois 521b – 6 Prov Fay Aux Loges 285b – 7 Prov Bourges 846b
Full sister “240/16” 1ste Asduif Br.Unie Zware halve fond 2018
Daughter from “Grandson Raul” Clement De Mesmaeker x “Witpen Jan Van der Weerden”
Her full sister is “BE 19-2011601” De 601 Hen
1 Sermaises 4.310b
1 Prov Bourges 1.176b
16 Nat 8.424b
2 Chateauroux 1.993b
2 Noyon 265b
3 Sermaises 1.687b
4 Etampes 2.443b
15 Chateauroux 1.215b
32 Prov Bourges 4.653b
BE 21-2012294 De Issoudun – Hen
1 Nat (z) Issoudun 2.286b
23 Nat 12.349b
3 Sermaises 606b
48 Sermaises 1.861b
Sire BE 18-2025357 Okereke - Clement De Mesmaeker
Son from “Blue Gaby” Base breeder x “Sister Origi” Daughter Blue Gaby
Mother BE 18-2132597 Nancy – Geert Van Roy
Daughter from “Father Black” is father from 1st Olympiad bird Cat.A Nitra 2013 x “652/16”
3 Nat Chateauroux 4.389d and daughter from “Black” 1st Olympiad bird Cat.A Nitra 2013
BE 19-2011607 De 607 Hen
13 Nat Ace Long Distance old birds KBDB 2021
8 Nat (z) Souillac 2.342b
10 Prov Limoges 851b
12 Nat (z) Brive 2.521b
14 Sermaises 4.923b
44 Nat (z) Limoges 4.870b
57 Nat (z) Brive 1.440b
Sire BE 11-2002796 Dark Chequered - Clement De Mesmaeker
Topbreeder
Father from “232/17” 1 Prov Blois 1.091b
Father from “273/17” 1 Sermaises 2.349b
100% Roger Florizoone
Mother BE 18-2026441 Jan Van der Weerden
½ sister 1 Prov Bourges
BE 20-2119203 Hen
1 Noyon 1.796b
3 Noyon 650b
3 Noyon 375b
4 Sermaises 1.078b
5 Sermaises 827b
7 Prov Vierzon 1.440b
10 Sermaises 1.306b
12 Sermaises 1.447b
14 Bourges 722b
14 Chateauroux 685b
28 Nat Chateauroux 4.003b
Sire BE 14-2166318 Chequered – Daniel De Roock
Won himself 8 Souppes 233b – 25 Chevrain 2.073b
Brother from “238/16” 1 Blois 175b – 2 Vierzon 606b – 5 Vierzon 416b – 7 Vierzon 245b
Mother NL 16-1865046 Daughter Zidane - Willem De Bruijn
Daughter from “Zidane” Base breeder x “Dirkje” Stickers – Donckers
Her sister is “BE 20-2119204”
1 Sermaises 1.447b
3 Bourges 246b
6 Sermaises 1.719b
6 Prov Vierzon 547b
7 Bourges 722b
7 Issoudun 443b
13 Sermaises 619b
29 Nat Chateauroux 4.003b
30 Prov Argenton 1.113b
34 Sermaises 4.310b
34 Sermaises 3.353b
43 Sermaises 4.204b
Best results 2022
Noyon 1.796 old + year birds : 1,2,3,27,35,38,39,40,42,44,58,59,61,… 53/77
Sermaises 912 old + year birds : 1,3,4,6,9,16,25,31,32,34,37,42,44,…. 31/33
Sermaises 807 old + year birds : 1,2,3,4,8,10,16,18,19,31,32,42,43,… 54/71
Sermaises 606 old + year birds : 1,2,3,4,8,13,14,18,19,30,32,36,37,38,39,40,41,… 48/75
Sermaises 445 old + year birds : 4,5,12,13,14,21,25,26,28,… 21/25
Vierzon Prov 1.440 old birds : 7,27,28,31,37,40,46,50,53,71,76,98,112,… 16/19
Vierzon Prov 2.659 year birds : 8,24,34,57,69,76,90,134,136,150,162,… 28/36
Bourges 722 old birds : 2,3,7,8,12,14,15,16,17,23,24,25,34,35,36,44,46,58,66,71,… 26/27
Chateauroux Prov 561 old birds : 5,6,20,23,27,44,45,… 13/14
Noyon 658 young birds : 1,14,17,19,20,34,38,55,57,58,59,60,61,62,… 26/42
Noyon 428 young birds : 2,4,5,7,8,10,22,23,24,29,… 22/36
Noyon 435 young birds : 2,4,5,6,7,14,26,27,28,31,32,34,45,46,49,… 40/69
Noyon 490 young birds : 2,4,5,13,14,23,29,35,38,40,42,43,45,47,52,… 41/73
Sermaises 273 young birds : 1,6,7,8,16,18,19,25,… 18/33
Orléans 2.207 young birds : 2,3,6,7,17,28,44,73,74,78,86,87,88,90,92,115,124,126,143,… 48/72
Rudi and Mathijs, congratulations on these wonderful results from the entire HERBOTS TEAM.
Buelens Kim
