Jo Bauters (Gavere) a loft of national winners and ace pigeons!

1st national Poitiers
1st national Limoges
1st national Cahors
1st national ace great middle distance

"Should there be more sand?  It's only when you take all the results and titles and look at them objectively that you get a shock of what some players can do in a short period of time.
One such player is Jo Bauters from Gavere. At the Bauters home, pigeon racing is a family sport. This was already the case when Jo started with pigeons as a young man together with his father André.  They started, like so many others, on the speed in the local associations, and it was soon clear that this would not be a one-day flight. They easily won top prizes.
The basis of this racing team were local strong playing lofts and Jo and father had a good eye for picking up good pigeons in the region.
After some time, these pigeons were tested on further distances and it appeared that they could also digest these distances without problems.  It is no secret in pigeon sport that good speed players, who usually know the fine details of the trade, read care, also succeed easily when they dare to jump on further distances.
This is also how it went with Jo. Jo has ambition and is fully supported by his wife and two daughters.  It's in the family's blood, because everybody loves the pigeon sport. The daughters also have their own loft and are very strong for their 'wife' in the sense that they are regularly ahead of their father in the races with the youngsters.

Fabian, Ellis, Totti, Salvatore, 

The "revelation" really started with Fabian's wonderful victory on a very hard and fair Poitiers-national. This beautiful blue cock had already shown what he was capable of by winning a number of top prizes, but this time he really hit the mark.  He immediately became the foundation pigeon of this colony and also appeared to be a strong sire.  His descendants were or still are the strong holders of this loft.
In 2016 it was hit again.  The blue hen Ellis won the Ace title heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB.  Ace pigeons are top pigeons, they are the most performing and most regular racing pigeons in their category. Ellis did this with verve.  She is a granddaughter of Fabian and was a proof of the strong genes of this breeding line.  Ellis also stayed on the lofts in Gavere.
In 2018 it was Totti who provided a stunt by taking the 1st national Cahors to Gavere. He strung a hard fair flight on his dough. His origin lies in the starting pigeons of Jo with names such as Marc Adam, Jan Haesaert, Beck, Charles Van Lancker etc..... All of them well-known top players from speed to heavy middle-distance and one-day long distance.
Another remarkable exploit was yearling Salvatore's 1st national in 2019 at Limoges. He won the first national from over 10,000 yearlings but was also the fastest from over 20,000 pigeons. On his father's side he is a grandson of Fabian and on his mother's side Gaston Van de Wouwer x the own strain.
This impressive list of real cracking performances are only the cherries that were put on the already well-filled cake during a number of years. Beside these real highlights, there are also a whole team of pigeons that are national winners, which emphasises the strength and the width of this colony.

In the meantime, the basis was also extended with pigeons from the very best lofts in the heavy middle-distance, long-distance and very long distance races.

Reculer pour mieux sauter

To go back a few paces and then to go back even further for the best performance. It is reminiscent of the long jump discipline in sports. This is what Jo and his family have been doing for the past two years. A number of lofts were built, the installations were adapted to the needs of a slightly larger colony and this takes time from the pigeons and the caretaker. Last year we also organised a very successful sale on the Herbots website of all pigeons older than yearling. It goes without saying that this requires a breathing space and that these are the few steps back one has to take to be able to take the run again with full enthusiasm and at full speed. Pigeons were kept from the best pigeons and new blood was brought in, but all this requires time and maturity and growth. Season 2021, which was already a very difficult season because of the fickle weather, was a season of adjustment, testing and adjustment of the pigeon watch. There were some very strong results, but also some lesser days. Jo does not deny this, but remains calm and sees the future certainly rosy. The quality is still there anyway, the known strongly built strain around Fabian, Ellis, Salvatore, Totti and others is present and has been reinforced with the best of some other top lofts. The goal is and stays the heavier work from the heavy middle distance, long distance and now and then long distance where Jo also wants to taste of.

Rendez-vous in 2022 where with full force and based on a very strong colony, we will enter the pigeon world!

Geert Dhaenens