Roziers – Xiang from Itegem win 1st Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Young Birds KBDB 2021

The municipality of Itegem has been put on the map in the pigeon sport for several years. The Houben family took care of this in the past and now Jelle Roziers takes care of the next story. Jelle all knew the Houben, Hubert Schroyens and Mariën Royberghs families. He went to help as a young boy where necessary because all these enthusiasts were related to each other. This is how he got the hang of it and in 1995 his first loft came, afterwards he formed a few tandems (with father Paul from 2007-2014) and in 2015 the new tandem Roziers – Xiang was born. A Chinese enthusiast who was looking for a topper in Belgium to play with, now Jelle and Jixiang Xiang form a tandem.

Jelle has been competing at the highest level in our sport for several years now and he can be devastating, especially with young pigeons. But for several years now he also has a loft of widowers and hens. Step by step so that I have everything under control and find the system that suits me and my pigeons. Immediately during the conversation the word specialist was mentioned, he prefers not to use this because the tide can also turn quickly and then you are already a specialist.

The goal here is very simple, to breed a nice team of youngsters, try to keep them healthy and then the basket will do the rest. The best may remain as yearlings and old birds, the very best including National winners or Ace pigeons get their place in the breeding loft and are no longer sold. He used to do that, but now it is important to keep your own toppers in your own ranks. The 2021 season was also a top season for Jelle with 1st National Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance youngsters as the icing on the cake. They have won this coveted title for the second time in 5 years.

Queen L is the founder of everything

In 2004 “Queen L” BE 04-6277729 won the 1st National La Souterraine against 16,000 pigeons. This top hen was not sold, co-breeding was done with several top cocks and so the foundation of this colony was laid.

Almost all ace pigeons of recent years have the genes of “Queen L”. A hen that lets her top genes continue for several generations in a row.

System with old and yearlings

After the season is over, usually the national race from Chateauroux around September 10, the racing pigeons get a full tank of breeding for 5 days, then eat lightly and the moult can start. In the winter, only the old widowers had a nest and raised young. They don't have an ordinary living box in their loft, but just a shelf on which a saucer fits. Motivation everywhere and what struck me was that the pigeons had a lot of peace in the loft.

The yearlings were also coupled with partners who stayed at home, but this was not without a struggle. There were still many yearlings who did not want to mate, so we left them alone. But those who were eager to mate have mated. In the initial period just before the racing season they are coupled again for 5 days while they are being trained.
The hens are housed in an aviary with rollers on the floor during the day. On the side, the aviary is shielded with a roller shutter so that it is a bit dark. In terms of training it is usually 1x a day, sometimes the cocks once a day, but that does not really play a role.

The hens see their partners before basketing (30 to 60 minutes), here the cocks are allowed directly for a few hours. With the widowers the system is a bit different, they don't see their partners until the next day. This to promote recovery, then they see their hen for 4 to 6 hours.

How do you race your youngsters?

During my visit, we were given a tour of the lofts and we especially noticed space, plenty of oxygen and pleasant lofts. All youngsters are darkened from 5:30 pm to 7:30 am, he maintains this rhythm until 4 weeks before Bourges. The additional lighting only starts here at Bourges itself because it is then more important to keep the small feathers in place towards the end of the season. Then the lights turn on from 6 a.m. in the morning and in the evening they are on until 10 p.m.

The 1st and 2nd round are first weaned separately and it is ensured that the 2nd round is first outside in the afternoon so that they can train about the same if the young cocks become too active. In the beginning, training is certainly not important, but once the season comes they do start. So already in mid-June the sexes are separated because the “sliding door” system does not apply here (read more below).

Training is especially important, the youngsters are driven a lot before they fly Quievrain. This up to 25 times, afterwards they fly in build-up to the national flights they fly 1 or 2x Ittre a week instead of a training flight at home and in between the National flights they fly 1x Ittre a week (usually Wednesday). The flights in between I usually play the furthest possible distance.

The youngsters train 1x a day until July, after that the rhythm increases and this becomes 2x a day. The youngsters flew their first Quievrain in mid-June and he usually repeats this on Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday so that they are ready for Noyon.

Little motivation with young pigeons

The youngsters sit on planks, no standard chapels, but the photo will make this clearer. So they have very little room to form pairs. Under the shelves is a fixed shelf that is cleaned daily, under this large U-shaped shelf there is 40-50 cm space below where the dust can fly away via grids. Each loft had a corridor and in front of it a large aviary.
The youngsters do not come together when basketing, they stay together as long as the competition lasts approximately when they return home. So on a sprint race this can only be 10 or 15 minutes, with a national race a little longer of course. But even then they will show very little interest in pairing and to date why all my best pigeons are not paired as youngsters.

Watch out for warm temperatures in your loft

Everyone has to deal with very warm temperatures in their loft, and the climate changes. Here Jelle shifts up a gear and the connecting doors in the corridor are fitted with open connecting doors with wire. Then he puts a fan in the loft that is fully focused on the corridor in order to get even more fresh air and oxygen into the lofts. The rear side of the roof is insulated and then another cavity in between but against a wooden plank. So that even less heat can reach the loft.
There are also beech blocks on the floor with the youngsters and widowers, this remains the whole season.

Superstar “Queen of Heaven” 

BE 21-6013030 “Queen of Heaven” Hen
1st Nat Ace Heavy middle distance young birds KBDB 2021
1st Prov Ace young birds Fondclub Antwerp 2021
5th Olympiad bird Cat.F 2020-2021

  3 Prov Bourges                4.079b
14 Nat                               18.710b
  8 Prov Argenton              4.466b
10 Nat                               23.124b
  9 Prov La Souterraine     2.653b
40 Nat                               14.315b
21 Prov Auxerre                6.660b

Sire BE 16-6060650 Seven Junior
2nd Nat Ace heavy middle distance young birds KBDB 2016
Won o.a. 8 Nat Chateauroux 14.762b – 19 Nat La Souterraine 16.613b – 32 Nat Argenton 19.592b

Gr.F. BE 13-6053078 Seven
          1 Nat Ace heavy middle distance young birds ( 7 National races ) 2013
          Son from “Whity Bart” L-B-J Geerinckx x “Sunny Queen” Daughter Queen L
Gr.M. BE 10-4251090 Lady – Noël – Willockx
            Daughter “Delellio” 3 x 1st x “Inteeltje” 

Mother BE 18-6034050 Zofia

Gr.F. BE 15-6052011 Marek – Jules & Yves Engels
                Brother superstar “Jolien” 2 Nat Chateauroux 2.780b – 7 Nat (z) Chateauroux 5.761b – 
                12 Nat Argenton 16.363b
              Son from “Father Argenton x Queen L” x “Daughter Argenton” 1 Nat Argenton
Gr.M. BE 12-6201290 Sunny Princess
                Daughter from “Son Blue Prins” Pros Roosen x “Sunny Queen” Daughter Queen L

Coaching

The young pigeons are only vaccinated against paramyxo and smallpox. I haven't done anything about the "one eye cold" problem since 2017. Getting sick is the message with this virus and stay calm.In 2021 only the old pigeons had a cure of 5 days with Soludox. Nothing has been done so far this season. For tricho I use the yellow drops every week. In April the old pigeons get a drop in the nose 2 days in a row. With the young pigeons I do this just before the first race 4 feedings in a row once. After that, the young pigeons are given this 2 feedings over the food from the middle distance.

In the field of nutrition, Jelle works very closely with Eddy Noël and uses the Aidi mixtures and completely the schedule as proposed. As additional products, it is Condition Booster and a lot of Health Elixir, especially on Wednesday and the day you return home. When they get home they also get Protein Boost over the food together with Omega Plus Oil.

If there are problems with the youngsters in terms of adeno, I switch to a light mixture and use Condition Booster. This contains a lot to strengthen the youngsters.
I prefer to use Koudijs for disinfection or the like, I do this twice in the season for both old and young.

Ace pigeon results and top results National since 2016

1 Nat. Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2017
1 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2021
1 Nat Bourges 38,455b ( fastest of 59,243p ) 2017
2 Nat Ace bird Heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB 2016
2 Nat Champion Heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB 2019
3 Nat Champion Heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB 2018
4 Nat Ace bird All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
5 Nat Olympiad pigeon old Cat.C 2020-2021
5 Nat Olympiad pigeon youngsters Cat.F 2020-2021
6 Nat Ace Pigeon All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
7 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2016
8 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2020
9 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2020
10 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2017
11 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2017
11 Nat Champion Heavy middle distance old KBDB 2021
15 Nat Ace Pigeon All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
15 Nat Ace bird Heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB 2020
17 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2017
19 Nat Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Youngsters KBDB 2017
19 Nat Ace bird All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
20 Nat Ace bird Heavy middle distance youngsters KBDB 2020
26 Nat Ace Pigeon All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
27 Nat Ace Pigeon All Round youngsters KBDB 2020
27 Nat Ace bird Heavy middle distance old KBDB 2021

Jelle, congratulations on these great results from the entire HERBOTS TEAM

Buelens Kim