Associatie Van de Schans (Hamont) wins the 1st Provincial Argenton Limburg and the 1st Nat.Z Argenton for yearlings and old birds

Hamont - The Association Van de Schans from Hamont put in an impressive performance last weekend by taking the provincial win for Limburg in the Argenton National flight. Their hen managed to stand out as the fastest of the 510 yearlings and old birds, finishing as the second fastest pigeon in the total field of 1,515 youngsters, yearlings and old birds in the province of Limburg. She also won 1st place nationally in zone B4 against 518 yearlings and old birds. Finally, at national level, this exceptional pigeon won 13th place against 3,375 yearlings and old pigeons and finished in 56th place in the total field of 18,120 pigeons.

A unique performance from a special hen

The winning hen is a late bred from last year who was trained exclusively on Momignies' September flights in 2023. This year, she was put out to pasture at the beginning of April, a strategy that paid off. She showed her best performances over longer distances, particularly from Sens. Earlier in the season, she won a fine provincial prize at Bourges, where she finished 292nd out of 1,083 yearlings.

This hen's pedigree isn't bad either: her sire is a Marc Van de Velde cock who, via Franky Appelmans, ended up at the Association Van de Schans and is a pure Gaston Van de Wouwer pigeon. The mother of the hen is a cross between the pigeons of Roger Bruninx and Ronny Menten and those of the Association Van de Schans' own pigeon strain and comes from the pigeon colony of Jean-Pierre Deckers de Hechtel.

Previous performances BE23-5064134

55th Soissons against 132b
72nd Sens against 301b
85th Momignies against 424b
292nd Provincial Bourges against 1.083b
443rd Chimay against 1.764b
466th Momignies against 1.994b
520th Chimay against 2.167b
1.586th Provincial Sens against 8.862b

Argenton Result

Argenton Provincial 510 yearlings + old birds
1-25-119-194-197-199-223-372 (7/8)

Argenton National 3.375 yearlings + old birds
13-428-944-1.275-1.288-1.293-1.455-2.508 (2/8)

This national result clearly shows that the early birds were not in Limburg last weekend, which makes the performance of Association Van de Schans' winning pool all the more impressive.

A solid team behind the scenes

The Association Van de Schans is made up of four dedicated members: Lambert (Bèr) Van de Schans, Leon Clijsters (the second man in the photo) and two experienced caretakers, Jacky Winters and Harry Bekaert. With around thirty breeding pairs, the association raises around 150 young each year. This season, unfortunately, there were many losses, which once again underlines just how special the performance of the winning hen is.

The Van de Schans Association plays old pigeons in full widowhood, with roosters and hens in competition. This winning strategy, combined with a carefully constructed stock and dedicated care, has given the Van de Schans Association a prominent place in Limburg pigeon racing.

The entire Herbots team would like to congratulate Bèr, Leon, Jacky and Harry on this great victory!

Maarten Herbots