Kris Van Massenhoven from Retie wins 1st National Ace Pigeon Sprint KBDB 2021
06 Jul 2022
In Retie, Antwerp, we visit Kris Van Massenhoven, the sprint king of 2021 and again very strong this season. Kris won the 1st National Ace bird speed KBDB in 2021 with his topper “Wout”. In 1984 as a young boy he got 2 red pigeons from his teacher Frans Proost in primary education, then Kris was barely 6 years old but through grandfather he got a taste and soon his first loft came up. The cock from this couple was a top breeder and sired many super racers, winning 22 x 1st prizes and another grandson winning 15 x 1st prizes. Over the years, more and more were added and now the new racing loft has been built in a garden right over the parental house.
The beginning was pure speed like so many Antwerp fanciers, in 2001 Kris was already on the highest podium with the national champions when he became 1st National Champion speed. Because they played so hard in the early 2000s, they were excluded in several places and he decided to get rid of some good pigeons and focus on the middle distance.
He will no longer make such a decision because the good pigeons simply stay here. Because it continued to itch, he decided to go to Danny Van Dijck in 2009 and to knock on Dirk Van Den Bulck's door in 2011. With both he got from the better pigeons and both fanciers were just fighting for the big breakthrough and Kris made good use of that. Most pigeons now have all sorts of these 2 fanciers.
The current breeding loft has room for 24 couples, which are usually new couples, and there are also 8 good breeders who are in boxes. It is mainly grown from these to have a better chance of success.
Switch to middle distance and heavy middle distance
Because the problems appeared in different speed rooms, Kris wanted to approach it differently. He wants to try middle distance and middle distance and he certainly does this with success, but the team for the sprint is still maintained, but in a lesser order of number than before.In the current racing lofts there are 20 widowers and 12 hens for the sprint and middle distance and another 36 hens for the middle distance.
This new racing loft was created in 2015 because there was not enough space at the parental home, at first it was a bit of searching what would be good, but a light panel for each loft worked wonders in the roof. A new loft is always looking for, but have patience and do not judge the pigeons in art. The front of the lofts is wired with a roller shutter in front of it that serves to darken and when the wind is wrong during rainy weather, the roller shutter will be lowered halfway to prevent wet manure from entering the aviaries. Furthermore, the youngsters are all on conveyor belts and there are grids everywhere on the floor.In the winter period, the best hens for the further distance are used in the boxes to lay a couple of eggs. The other 32-piece team was paired up and he just let him raise a litter with youngsters. In March they come together again to breed for 3 to 4 days before they leave on widowhood. Only the pigeons with eggs that are on total widowhood (8 hens) and all widowers come here. The other hens are only coupled for a week in March during training.
With regard to training, the racing pigeons always fly 2x a day during the season, the youngsters do this 1x a day until June. In July and August I have leave and the rhythm goes up and they fly twice a day. With the youngsters I try to get discipline in it and from July they train 2 x 1 hour a day with the flag.Youngsters
The youngsters are also in the new racing loft with a lot of oxygen and open aviaries, everything has been adjusted so that they can be nicely darkened. This period starts from mid-March to 21 June (5 pm to 8:30 am). Immediately after darkening, we start lighting until the end of the season.Because we use grids everywhere here and do not bring extra boxes into the loft, few pairs are always formed. The sliding door is used here from July after they have raced 2x Quievrain and it just opens at basketing without extra motivation.
We try to invest a lot of time in training the youngsters, a lot of training and driving is half the battle. They cannot learn and gain enough experience before flying their 1st flight, of course there is also the risk that if you drive a lot they always end up in a different draft but the good ones will come home. From July we will drive 1x during the week up to 60 km.
Motivation
The old hens for the middle distance always get their partners for half an hour when basketing. When they return home, they stay together until the evening or the day after during a national race or a difficult course. The pigeons for the shorter distances only get to see their partner 3 to 4 minutes before the flight and 1 to 2 hours when they return home.
Top racers of the 2021-2022 season
BE 20-6090616 “Wout” Cock
1st National Ace Speed year birds KBDB 2021
19th National Ace Speed young birds KBDB 2020
1 Quievrain 584b
1 Quievrain 554b
1 Quievrain 452b
1 Quievrain 409b
1 Quievrain 223b
3 Quievrain 3.026b
3 Quievrain 1.014b ( 1-273b )
3 Quievrain 266b
4 Quievrain 594b
4 Quievrain 505b
5 Quievrain 764b
5 Quievrain 735b
9 Quievrain 358b
11 Quievrain 546b
15 Quievrain 586b
Sire BE 16-6127969 Danny Dockx x Niels Broeckx
Gr.F. BE 12-6126534 Danny Dockx x Rene Mertens
Gr.M. BE 15-6059690 Sister 306 – Niels Broeckx
“306” won 1st Olympiad bird Long Distance Brussels 2017
Won 4 x TOP 15 National
Mother BE 15-6081211
Gr.F. BE 10-6155013 Superbreeder
Father from “508/12” 6 x TOP 20 National (z)
Gr.M. BE 09-6323159 Danny Van Dijck
Foundation hen – Mother from 12 x 1st price winners
Daughter from “BE 05-979” Brother Grandmother Kanon x “BE 07-811” Daughter Blauwke
base hen Danny Van Dijck
BE 21-6092303 “Remco” Cock
1 Quievrain 892b
1 Quievrain 330b
1 Quievrain 328b
3 Quievrain 491b ( after 2 loftmates )
3 Quievrain 455b
3 Quievrain 307b (after 2 loftmates )
Sire E 19-6170556 Topracer middle distance
Won a.o. 1 Melun 1.512b – 1 Melun 1.044b – 1 Melun 916b – 1 Melun 557b
Gr.F. BE 18-6144476 Son Schone Dirk
Son from “BE 11-920” Schone Dirk – Dirk Van Den Bulck x “BE 14-817” 1ste Nat (z)
Chateauroux
Gr.M. BE 12-6258088 Gust Van Hove
Mother BE 19-6170513
Gr.F. BE 17-6103747
Brother from “853/20” 2 Sermaises 807b – 3 Sermaises 1.290b – 5 Melun 515b -
63 Nat Argenton 21.282b – 67 Nat Chateauroux 22.196b
Son from “BE 15-246” Father Raketje x “BE 14-858” 2nd Ace hafo Kempen
Gr.M. BE 16-6127957 Daughter Schone Dirk
Daughter from “BE 11-920” Schone Dirk – Dirk Van Den Bulck x “BE 15-822” Walter Verbinnen
Care
I keep it simple, a pigeon that trains well and is healthy will eat well. They also get this here and every day there is a sports mixture on the menu. I mix 3 different types together and will keep the portion smaller at the beginning of the week so that they continue to eat.
I mainly use Optimix from Herbots to build up my condition, in addition on Monday and Wednesday Herbo Elite Pigeon from Herbovet and Herbo CMB Plus the day before and after basketing. On Tuesday evening and Thursday evening Golden Omega Oil is added to Schroeder Tollisan's food and when they return home they are given Tollyamin Forte.
In the medical field they get a cure against tricho in the spring of 5 days and I work with the yellow drops in the mouth every week. I rarely treat the airways, the old pigeons were treated in 2021 and not yet, the young pigeons received 1 cure in 2021. Every month I use Mariën's Condition Syrup.
Chamionships 2021
57 x 1st ( incl doubles ) – 42 x 2nd – 52 x 3th
1ste Algemeen Kampioen Quievrain ( Retie, Schoonbroek , Arendonk )
1ste Algemeen Kampioen Noyon ( Retie, Schoonbroek , Arendonk )
1ste Algemeen Kampioen halve fond Hafo Kempen
2de Algemeen Superstar van het jaar Gouden Duif
5de Kampioen zware halve fond Fondclub Antwerpen
Results 2021
Quievrain 907 old birds : 2,4,5,15,19,20,21,21,… 46/67
Quievrain 727 old birds : 2,4,31,33,… 6/6
Quievrain 273 old birds : 1,3,4,9,… 6/6
Quievrain 286 old birds : 1,3,4,5,… 14/21
Quievrain 134 old birds : 3,6,… 3/3
Quievrain 266 old birds : 2,3,4,10,11,… 7/7
Quievrain 358 old birds : 2,4,5,9,10,… 20/25
Quievrain 490 year birds : 2,4,5,14,20,21,22,25,… 32/50
Quievrain 409 year birds : 1,3,… 4/4
Quievrain 162 year birds : 1,3,4 3/3
Quievrain 187 year birds : 1,2,3,4,8,… 12/18
Quievrain 145 year birds : 1,2,6,… 4/4
Quievrain 175 year birds : 1,3,4,8,9,… 15/20
Quievrain 306 young birds : 1,2,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,… 16/25
Quievrain 456 young birds : 1,11,14,16,17,18,19,20,21… 58/140
Quievrain 590 young birds : 1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,17,18,… 74/124
Noyon 409 old birds : 2,3,4,5,7,12,13,15,16,… 34/58
Noyon 328 old birds : 1,5,6,… 21/27
Noyon 288 old birds : 1,13,16,17,… 19/28
Noyon 120 old birds : 1,2,3,… 11/12
Noyon 107 old birds : 1,2,4,5, 4/4
Noyon 118 old birds : 1,2,4 4/4
Noyon 227 year birds : 2,3,4,5,6,10,… 24/44
Noyon 169 year birds : 2,3,5,6,7,… 10/16
Noyon 269 young birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,… 60/107
Melun 987 old birds : 8,9,15,19,… 17/29
Melun 1.638 old birds : 5,8,12,… 15/28
Melun 829 old birds : 2,9,12,… 23/26
Sermaises 1.290 old birds : 1,3,4,5,8,9,10,14,15,… 18/24
Sermaises 906 old birds : 5,13,14,… 9/15
Sermaises 807 old birds : 2,10,12,13,… 9/12
Sermaises 690 old birds : 1,6,…10/12
Sermaises 586 old birds : 8,9,10,… 17/26
Fay Aux Loges 428 old birds : 2,3,7,8,12,… 19/24
Melun 505 year birds : 5,9,11,18,23,… 14/26
Melun 929 year birds : 3,6,31,… 14/25
Sermaises 807 year birds : 1,2,3,4,6,7,10,… 14/20
Sermaises 557 year birds : 3,6,7,… 7/10
Sermaises 501 year birds : 2,7,9,… 7/10
Sermaises 421 year birds : 1,4,14,16,… 9/9
Fay Aux Loges 276 year birds : 1,4,8,… 13/18
Sermaises 1.200 young birds : 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,… 66/92
Sermaises 988 young birds : 2,3,4,9,10,13,14,17,18,21,22,23,24,25,26,28,29,30,31,32,… 55/78
Melun 667 young birds : 3,4,8,13,14,15,16,18,20,21,… 49/66
Auxerre 929 young birds : 6,8,10,13,14,22,… 33/77
Bourges 247 year birds : 1,3,4,5,… 10/22
Chateauroux 135 year birds : 1,2,4,8,… 11/15
Argenton 127 year birds : 1,2,3,6,… 8/15
Issoudun 98 year birds : 1,2,3,5,6,8,9,… 8/11
Results 2022
Quievrain 381 old birds : 1,2,3,7,10,… 40/68
Quievrain 491 old birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9,11,12,13,14,15,… 51/66
Quievrain 570 old birds : 4,5,7,8,12,12,14,16,20,21,… 17/18
Quievrain 892 old birds : 1,5,6,7,8,8,11,12,13,… 55/67
Quievrain 197 year birds : 1,3,4,5,8,9,… 27/50
Quievrain 280 year birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,… 37/49
Quievrain 455 year birds : 3,4,8,9,14,15,16,… 17/24
Quievrain 387 year birds : 1,2,3,7,7,10,… 13/14
Quievrain 483 year birds : 1,3,4,5,6,6,9,10,11,… 42/50
Noyon 256 old birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,… 31/36
Noyon 201 old birds : 3,4,5,7,8,10,… 14/20
Noyon 137 old birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,… 23/36
Noyon 152 year birds : 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,… 23/27
Melun 1.701 old birds : 9,17,29,32,51,54,56,… 30/35
Melun 510 old birds : 3,6,15,16,… 15/21
Melun 321 year birds : 2,7,14,15,… 13/16
Sermaises 1.509 old birds : 3,11,22,22,24,25,32,35,… 30/34
Sermaises 825 year birds : 3,7,15,16,21,… 22/26
Bourges 149 old birds : 2,3,5,7,10,… 8/9
Bourges 162 year birds : 2,3,4,9,10,11,12,13,14,… 16/27
Argenton 102 old birds : 1,2,4,5,7,… 8/8
Argenton 124 year birds : 1,2,5,6,7,8,8,10,… 13/23
Kris, congratulations on these great results from the entire HERBOTS TEAM.
Buelens Kim
