Herbots | Gheyskens Olivier - Veerle: 1st National Gueret 12,208 yearbirds

Veerle/Laakdal: Olivier Gheyskens' list of honours is starting to look more and more impressive and for those who maybe don't know yet, here is an overview of the national KBDB championships of the last few years:

1st Nat. Champion small middle distance young birds 2018
1st National Gueret 12,208 yearlings - fastest among 20,583 pigeons
2nd National Ace Pigeon KBDB Allround young birds 2021
2nd Nat. Champion KBDB ½ Fond Youngsters 2012
3rd Nat. Champion KBDB ½ Fond Youngsters 2015
2nd Nat. Champion KBDB Fond youngsters 2016
8th Nat. Champion KBDB ½ Fond youngsters 2017
3rd National Ace Pigeon KBDB ½ Fond Youngsters 2018
6th National Champion KBDB Fond Youngsters 2018

Potske

Olivier built up his colony with pigeons from Van Leest-Peeters (via the late Henri Menten), Robert Verheyden (Tielt-Winge), Gheyskens Deville (Veerle), Luc Daans (Begijnendijk) and Michel Lossignol (De Bruijn Willem breed)

Ancestor is without any discussion "Potske". "Potske" B14-6253216 won

10th Nat. Chateauroux 25,710 yearlings
49th Nat. Argenton 27,267 youngsters
103rd Nat. Chateauroux 22,818 yearlings
154th Nat. Bourges 21,522 yearlings
247th Nat. Bourges 30,180 youngsters

His descendants are doing more than super in several generations.

Gueret National

National winner was the blue hen "Het Gueretje" (B21-6222526). The "Gueretje" achieved an average speed of 1199.42 m/m and was the fastest of all 20,583 Gueret racers at a distance of 589 km. "She approached from the wrong direction" Olivier said, but apparently she had already accumulated enough lead.
Pithy detail, it was not only "Het Gueretje" that performed super. Olivier had 6 hens with him and 3 of them flew in the Top-100 national, namely 1st, 13th and 67th national!

Hens on widowhood

We only started with a team of 12 hens on widowhood (partner stays at home). The hens were coupled just before the start of the season and on a youngster of 14 days old they made their first flight. Afterwards, they saw a release place every week and via speed, middle distance, they went to Vierzon, Bourges, 2 x Argenton, Momignies, Soissons and Gueret.

Concerning the feeding, they trust the Beyers mixtures. Protein poor (Vandenabeele) in the beginning of the week and feeding with Galaxy Energy.
Medically speaking, we play short on the ball. Before Bourges national, there was a cure against ornithosis for 3 days and during the season, every 14 days for 2 days B.S. (De Weerd) is put in the drinking water.
During the week, the hens are in a hanging aviary during the day. During the night, they can stay in their loft, but they can only sit in chapels as the boxes are closed with a plywood plate.
During basketing, these plywood plates are removed and the hens can go into their living box. A partner is not shown. Only when they come home, their "husband" is waiting for them and depending on the toughness of the flight, they can cuddle each other for a long time or for a short time.

Olivier... congratulations with your first national victory.

B21-6222526
1st National Gueret 12,208 yearbirds - fastest 20,583 birds

Distance: 589km
Velocity: 1199,42 m/m