Luc De Laere - Anzegem 1st National ace KBDB middle distance old '22 1st National Chateauroux '22 - 1st National Argenton '22

Anzegem: "What a season I am experiencing"...the words of Luc as he rubs his hands through his hair. "As a fancier, you dream of winning a national one day. Many times I have been so close but never had the taste of a national win. Mind you, in 2014 we were the moral winner of national Chateauroux. At that time, we still had to clock the pigeons' control rubber within 15 minutes but the pigeons then made a higher speed than expected and I only clocked the control rubber after 17 minutes because I found my "moral national winner" in the loft. Consequence, the clocking time of the control rubber was retained as the clocking time and therefore I lost the national win. I can assure you, this keeps you awake many nights as a fancier. 
And now last season 2022. Not one but 2 national wins I was allowed to celebrate and then as an absolute highlight the title of 1st national ace pigeon KBDB to Anzegem.
Can you believe I sometimes pinch myself in the arm. Is all this really true. Fact is, such top season I will never experience again! 
The exceptional 2022 season can be summarised as follows:
35 first prizes
8 provincial wins (all at national races)
2 national victories
1st National ace KBDB middle distance old bird 

Father Maurice
For years, Luc and his father Maurice formed a fierce tandem in speed, middle-distance and heavy middle-distance. Ace pigeons, championships and especially many, many first prizes were to their credit. Today, Luc still plays in the old lofts of the past. They are airy loft lofts in the spacious attics of his parents' farm. Luc lives next door and clambers up the stairs to the loft loft lofts daily, year after year.
In March 2015, father Maurice died at the age of 83, the man to whom Luc owes much of his "pigeon wisdom".
Father and son De Laere discovered an excellent breeding pair in 1998: the "Jonge Bonten" x "Blauw Renterghem". This pair became among others the parents of the "Crayonnee" (won 1st Blois with 10 min ahead) and "Tieke", a great racer... and if possible even a better breeder! A super pigeon that managed to be crowned "Provincial Ace Pigeon Half-Fond KBDB West Flanders" no less than 2 years in a row! It was the same "Tieke" that also had a large share in being crowned 1st National Champion Half-Fond KBDB 2002!

It should therefore come as no surprise that descendants of the "Tieke" have a prominent role in the current strain construction. But Maurice and Luc also went looking for crossing material for the "Tieke" dynasty. The famous "Bliksem" line of Gaby Vandenabeele was the most obvious choice in their opinion... a golden move it would later turn out. With the "Justine Bliksem", a daughter of the world-famous "Bliksem", our West Flemish breeders brought a breeding mother of stature to Anzegem. What "Justine Bliksem" coupled with a son of the "Tieke" produced is extremely phenomenal: 1st Provincial Ablis 6,256 pigeons. - 1st Provincial Ablis 5,811 pigeons. - 1st Provincial Poitiers 1,318 pigeons - 1st Provincial Poitiers 1,147 pigeons. - 1st Provincial Blois 1,215 pigeons - 1st Provincial Orleans 1,974 pigeons - 1st Provincial Bourges 1,003 pigeons - 1st Provincial Ablis 4,680 pigeons.
Other successful acquisitions were hens from Fred Sauerbier (Germany) and John Meurysse (Oeselgem). The Tieke pigeons are characterised by their exceptionally strong and fierce character and are real top flyers and first prize winners.

 Phenomenon "Armin"
What a class act. Not only did he win the 1st National Chateauroux but he was recently honoured at Mechelen as national ace KBDB middle distance pigeon. The battle for this title was at the cutting edge as several candidates were ready to take the national ace pigeon title right in front of "Armin". But the class of "Armin" did not let himself be impressed and he closed his last flight in pure beauty by winning the national victory. Talk of a closing of stature and gagging all competition.
For the national ace pigeon championships, "Arnim" BE20-3000523 winged the following top results:

28-05-2022  Bourges Prov 15°  against 5,780b -  0.2595%

04-06-2022  Argenton Nat 165°  against 20,467b -  0.8062%

09-07-2022 Gueret  Prov 1°  against 1,444b - 0.0693% 

06-08-2022 Chateauroux Nat 1° against  4,003b  -  0.0250%

To score so out top with a coefficient of 1,1600 % on 4 National flights

The method in Anzegem - widowers
Luc is a strong observer of pigeons, he takes very good care of them, leaves nothing to chance but is not the man who will quickly follow unknown paths. Experience has taught him that good pigeons are best taken care of in as fixed a pattern as possible and Luc always stays fairly close to the known systems. 
The widowers are paired mid-December and for several years they have not raised youngsters. The eggs of the toppers are sold every year and the widowers are separated again. They then go to the aviary for an eight-week oxygen treatment. This is followed by a coupling of three to four days. The pigeons come out of the aviary and have to get used to their own living boxes again. In this way they regain some of their territorial instincts and get the "appetite for the loft" just before the season.
In April, we train at home once a day in the evening. From the month of May, they are also trained for half an hour in the morning and evening if necessary, the training rhythm is boosted with the flag. Pigeons are not born to sit on the roof. Fly or on the loft is the credo.
When basketing, cocks and hens do not come together and after arriving from a race, the cocks have to wait a good half hour before they can cuddle "wife" for about two hours. For the rest, no "magic tricks" are invented to motivate the widowers because experience has shown that sometimes a widower is more quickly demotivated than motivated.

The method in Anzegem - racing hens
It does not really want to click, and then we are talking about the game with the hens and fancier Luc. For some reason, it all works much better with the widowers. For some reason, the results of the hens do not outweigh the results of the widowers at all. For that reason, during the season, the best 8 hens went to the youngster loft and were allowed to start a nest there. One even won 2 x 1st provincial, also good for a 5th and 23rd national. For that reason, Luc takes up the challenge to play the long distance or a little further with hens on a nest. 


 The method in Anzegem - young pigeons
Luc continues "As a fancier, luck sometimes has to be on your side. As already mentioned, the eggs of the widowers are sold and if the laying date doesn't correspond with the laying date of the buyer's pigeons, some eggs can stay in Anzegem. Surely my national winner Argenton young birds was born from such eggs! How much luck can one have. 
The 130 youngsters are darkened from mid-March to 10 June. Then they are lighted from August onwards. The youngsters are taught quite late. They must have those days when they come home in "bits and pieces" and only then will the training basket be taken from the attic. First a getting used to the small basket and they are simply placed in the garden for a few hours. After that, they will be unloaded. The most important thing is that the youngsters get to know the big basket and also learn to drink in the basket. Then they are unloaded in smaller steps up to about a 25 km from home. Then they go with the club to Arras, Clermont, middle distance and also work mainly the provincial flights and the nationals.
However, care is taken for the young promising cocks which mainly fly the provincial flights. During the widowers' season, the youngsters train only once a day, then twice for just under an hour.
In the loft of the youngsters, nature is allowed to take its course. The loft is then made a little cosier and the corners and sides are used to possibly make some boxes or hiding corners which promotes drift and nesting. The 2022 youngsters had more than the form to catch. 3 nationals were played and 3 times started with the 1st provincial. Never experienced before ! 

Röhnfried - feeding and medical supervision 

Medically, Luc is very alert. There is still little treatment against tricho. The vet is consulted for examination. In case of light trichomonas, we administer a little more Avidress + Hexenbier and the results are very good. During the season, all old and young pigeons receive a yellow drop in each nostril. Against ornithosis, treatment is only given when really necessary and that was in 2022 after the disastrous Argenton. Then all his best pigeons arrived the day after and it was really necessary to intervene. It took several days and some rest to get them back on track.

In terms of vaccination, the old pigeons are vaccinated once against paramyxo/rota and 14 days later against parathyphoid. The young pigeons are vaccinated twice against paramyxo/rota, afterwards against smallpox (with a brush) and afterwards against parathyphus. 
In terms of food, the Beyers mixtures are on the menu and Luc prefers to use the Röhnfried products. Especially the products aimed at increasing the natural resistance are provided. On arrival from a race and on Sunday, the widowers find sport mixtures with Usne Gano + Gervit W and K + K proteins in their food bowl. In the drinking water there is Mumm + Bt Amin Forte. Sunday just the same as Saturday. 
On Monday and Tuesday, a low-protein mixture (1 tablespoon) is fed while the right dose of Hexenbier is mixed in the drinking water. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, Super Widowhood on which Energy Oil+ RO200 is mixed into their food bowl. Luc always feeds the widowers individually because he wants to see how much they eat. "If after 10 minutes all the food pots are empty, I go to sleep" Luc knows to say. 
The youngsters get the same by-products and as a mixture always Beyers Youngsters.
We cannot stress it enough, the 2022 season was of a very exceptionally high level for Luc and actually a nice tribute to father Maurice. A special word of praise and thanks to Sybille, Luc's wife. A few years back, Luc took a heavy fall from a ladder at work. Lots of fractures, much recovery and long period of pain resulted. Painless in his body Luc is rarely and since then Sybille helps a lot in taking care of the pigeons. Apparently, her contribution is also clearly felt in the results. Where in the past they were already top-top, last year they can be called super. Has the feeling of Sybille and this new tandem been the miracle recipe for this success ? Only the pigeons that have performed can confirm it.

Knowing Luc and Sybille, nothing will be left to chance in the coming months either. This contagious enthusiasm, combined with the class pigeons from the Arendstraat, will undoubtedly result in more winners. Bourges, be warned!

 

Good luck from the Herbots team 

Stefan Mertens/Geert Dhaenens