Kobe and Kato Herbots from Velm and their dominant super breeding line “Geof”

The Kobe & Kato Herbots colony, under the supervision of father Raf Herbots, is a fantastic machine. Not only this year, but for several years now, the selection process has been rigorous, ensuring that at the end of the year, only the very best remain. This is the only and only right path to a rock-solid racing loft from which future breeders will also flow.

The major advantage of this colony is that, thanks to the dominant super breeding line of "Geof," they may well have a significant advantage over others. This line has already produced several national top racers in the second, third, and fourth generations. This will become clear later in this article, thanks to the results both at home and elsewhere. 

Great results were also achieved in Velm this year.

21 x 1st without doubles
3 x 1st Provincial
7 x 1st Midden Limburg

1st Ace Pigeon Middle Distance Midden Limburg
1st Provincial Sourdun 487p
2nd Provincial Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB 2025
3rd National Bourges 18,985 young pigeons
3rd National Bourges 13,213 young pigeons
3rd Champion Middle Distance Midden Limburg
20th National Ace Pigeon Heayv Middle Distance Young Birds KBDB 2025

Below, we introduce these fantastic pigeons to you one by one.

BE 25-6049015 Cock
3rd National Bourges 18,985 young pigeons 
Breeder: Bart & Nance Van Oeckel

BE 24-5073487 Hen
2nd Provincial Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB 2025
1st Provincial Sourdun 487p
Breeder: Schroyen – Stockmans

BE 24-4049013 Hen
3rd National Bourges 13,213 young pigeons 
Breeder: Van den Abbeel - Peleman

BE 25-6049040 Hen
20th National Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Young KBDB 2025 
Breeder: Bart & Nance Van Oeckel

For the first time, a separate loft with yearling hens

They had tried this in previous years with a few hens among the youngsters, but now, in 2025, they had sacrificed a youngsters' loft for the yearling hens. A total of 16 hens were required to ensure the results, and they performed brilliantly.

In February, the hens were paired and he left them together until the first eggs hatched. Then everything was cleared away, but during that period, some hens hadn't even laid eggs yet, but that doesn't affect their racing. The hens are always in the aviary during the day, and after pairing, they come back outside and train once a day. After training, they receive 30% of their daily ration, which they feed in the loft before returning to the aviary. At 2 p.m., they receive their second feeding and are locked in their boxes in the loft. An important detail here is that all pigeons have separate water available to ensure their food can be properly digested.

To improve motivation, the hens initially get their cocks for fifteen minutes, later increasing this to a maximum of one hour. After the sprint and middle-distance races, they get their cocks immediately, but afterward, they're allowed to recover a bit before seeing their cocks. Immediate recovery is just as important to us as showing the cocks. After one hour, they can be with their cocks for a maximum of two hours. If the race has been difficult, we leave them together longer; that's the only exception we make.

Once the pigeons are really in their stride for the middle-distance races and beyond, they're no longer allowed outside the loft. We prefer to drive them to ensure we know how many kilometers they train, rather than letting them out at home. That's why we drive them 30km on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in April, increasing this to 50km in May/June. They don't see their partner upon their return.

You might think I'd have problems with hens pairing with each other. Yes, that's certainly true. At the end, there were still three hens in the aviary, while the others were locked up for a whole day because they were nesting together. But we didn't experience any performance disadvantages.

There were also two hens that had a difficult race and were lost for a few days. We allowed them to recover and raced them with the youngsters. This is certainly not a disadvantage either; they'll be in a different environment and might find a young love here that will provide new motivation.

Selection is also strict with young pigeons.

The young pigeons are darkened just like the old birds. We darken the yearling hens from April 1st to May 15th, while the young pigeons are darkened from April 1st to July 1st. We then start supplemental lighting from July 15th until the end of the season (5:30 AM and 10:30 PM).

We also start taking the young pigeons' training baskets out of the stable very early when they are training well at home. We start at 1 km, then 2 km, and then build up. We never travel any further until the pigeons ahead of us have returned from the distance we are flying. When the pigeons are then entered for races, we also maintain a strict schedule. They get a rest on Sunday, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday they are in the baskets for training. This is usually around 40 km. On Wednesday, they either fly 60 to 70 km, or we opt for an intermediate flight on Wednesday in ideal racing weather of almost 100 km. This year, we won the 3rd National Bourges this way. They flew Chimay on Thursday morning and were basketed again on Thursday evening.

We separate our young pigeons 14 days before Bourges. On basketing day, they are fed at 7:00 AM, fed again at 11:00 AM, the sliding door opens at 1:00 PM, and we separate them again at 4:00 PM. Afterwards, we feed them one last time and basket them. We sometimes adjust this schedule if they have a race on Wednesday; they stay together for a few hours and are basketed on Thursday.

The young pigeons receive their regular vaccinations: Rota Paramyxovirus at weaning and again three weeks later, then pox three weeks later, and then paratyphoid three weeks later. The yearlings receive paramyxovirus and pox vaccinations in January and a paratyphoid vaccination in February. The racing pigeons receive a pox vaccination three times during their careers: as youngsters, yearlings, and two-year-olds. That's more than enough.

What do you do in terms of additional products or medical care?

We've found a great combination of Herbochol and Herbo ALR for the pigeons' metabolism and general condition. We provide a lot of this throughout the season. We also give them the yellow drop against tricho weekly during the season, but they still get a tricho pill once a month. Sometimes they alternate with a combination pill that also works against coccidiosis. For respiratory care, we like to stick with a product that contains Tylan. We then give them a short treatment if the pigeons are experiencing a slight downturn or have had a difficult race. In that case, we intervene by giving them a product containing Tylan, or Docamox, for 1.5 or 2 days.

Upon arrival, we always give them Herbo Recovery along with Herbosol. We add Herbots Optimix to their feed, and for more demanding races, we use animal proteins.

We keep the feeding very simple. Once the races are back-to-back in May, we give Enzymix Recup Beyers on Sunday evening and Monday morning. After that, we switch to Galaxy Beyers Sport and Energy. For the last two days, we also mix in Aidi Vliegmix 3.

Super breeder "Geof" BE 16-2146541 and his mother "Super F16" BE 14-2199514

This mother and son are a combination of strategy and friendships in pigeon racing. The "Super F16" hen was born thanks to a joint breeding between Herbots and Bart & Nance Van Oeckel. In 2013, Raf had a super young pigeon flying in the national races, bred by Bart & Nance Van Oeckel: "Super One," who won 44th National Argenton against 19,303 pigeons and is a daughter of "Gaston Jr." After the season, this top hen was paired to their stock sire, "F16," resulting in "Super F16," the one and only stock dam of this colony. Her son is just as talented as her, producing generation after generation of top pigeons. Below is an overview of the impressive list of descendants of "Geof" and his mother, "Super F16."

Excellent references in 2025

Not only this season are the pigeons of Kobe and Kato Herbots performing fantastically at other locations, which makes both them and other fanciers happy. But this season was truly exceptional, with all the references we know so far thanks to the "Geof" line. A breeding line that, judging by these pedigrees, crosses easily with other bloodlines and is therefore very successful. Take a close look at these pedigrees, and you'll find many other top pigeons paired to these children or grandchildren of "Geof."

Herbots Jo & Raf – Multiple national ace pigeons heavy middle distance KBDB 2025

BE 24-2107298 "Supreme Argenton" Hen (Granddaughter Geof) 
4th Nat. Ace Pigeon heavy middle distance yearlings KBDB 2025. 
Won 2nd Nat. Argenton 13,988p. – 17th Nat. Bourges 11,056p. – 65th Nat. Vierzon 16,892p. – 68th Nat. Bourges 17,163p. – 125th Nat. Argenton 6,523p. – 130th Nat. Bourges 17,189p.

BE 23-2112192 “New Super Ace” Cock (Grandson Geof) 
7th Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Old KBDB 2025

Won 3 Nat Argenton 4.758p – 9 Nat Bourges 8.132p – 14 Nat Bourges 5.261p – 180 Nat Argenton 11.557p – 232 Nat Argenton 11.177p - …. 

BE 23-2112113 "Supreme Geof" Hen (Granddaughter of Geof, dam is a sister of Super Geof) 
20th Nat. Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Olds KBDB 2025

Won 47 Nat Bourges 5.261p – 55 Nat Bourges 13.580p – 82 Nat Bourges 8.132p – 159 Nat Argenton 11.557p - … 

BE 24-2107081 Hen ( Granddaughter Geof ) 
42nd Nat Ace Pigeon heavy middle distance yearlings KBDB 2025 

Won 31 Nat Argenton 6.523p – 131 Nat Bourges 11.056p – 163 Nat Bourges 17.163p - 446 Nat Argenton 13.988p - … 

BE 23-2112442 Cock (Great-grandson of Geof and grandson of Super Geof)

Won 20 Nat Argenton 4.758p - 39 Nat Argenton 11.557p – 43 Nat La Souterraine 4.758p 

Denis Sapin – 2nd S.Nat Sancoins 5,399 p

BE 24-2092789 Hen (Great-granddaughter Geof) 

Won 2nd S.Nat Sancoins 5,399p – 2nd Soissons 660p – 11th Laon 568p and 44th Nat Bourges 17,163p - …

She is a granddaughter of "Brother Super Geof," who resides in the lofts of Buelens Kim.

Vandersmissen Jos – 8th National Bourges 13,213p

BE 25-5095953 (Grandson Geof)

This young top pigeon won 8th National Bourges 13,213 young pigeons in the last national race of the 2025 season.

Michaux Francois – 2 x 1st Provincial

BE 24-1105550 Cock (Grandson Geof) 

Won 1st Provincial Bourges 372p. (2nd Int. Provincial 1,414p.) and 1st Provincial Sancoins 239p. (8th Int. Provincial 1,504p.) and also 7th Trelou 752p.

This is a 100% Herbots pigeon, but above all, a grandson of super breeder "Geof."

Surinx – Pletsers – 1st Midden Limburg 2,639 p

This top colony won 1st Midden Limburg 2,639 p with a granddaughter of Geof. This is pure inbreeding to "Geof" because he was paired to his own mother. This top breeder sired six top pigeons in two years.

Here's a brief summary of his top references from 2024:

1st National Limoges 6,809 old birds (great-grandchild Black Beauty x Super F16) raced for Noeyens Niels & Quinten

2nd National La Souterraine 7,368 old birds (daughter of "Geof" – granddaughter of Super F16) raced for Herbots Jo & Raf.

3rd National La Souterraine 7,368 old birds (great-grandchild Black Beauty x Super F16) flown by Lemestre Daniel

Raf, Kobe, and Kato—super quality is here, and we can all use it.

Buelens Kim

KOBE & KATO HERBOTS ARE OFFERING A UNIQUE GROUP OF STRICTLY SELECTED PIGEONS ON THE PIGEON BIDS INTERNET AUCTION.

THIS IS AN IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THE PROVEN "GEOF" BREEDING LINE TO YOUR BREEDING LOFT.

THIS SALE ENDS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 AT 2 PM.