Sam Bostoen (Adegem) 1st national ace KBDB Fond yearbirds

We not only realise that the pigeon fancier population is ageing and declining, but also note that quite a number of young players have nevertheless neatly established themselves at the top. Does young daring and guts prevail over experience which also brings some conservatism ? Probably so. Under the motto "not shot, always wrong", young forces enter the arena with a little more panache and less prejudice (rightly or wrongly). And with results.

We visit Sam Bostoen, another one who has played his way to the top of national pigeon racing in no time. At 40, Sam, happy parent of thriving and growing 13-year-old twins, is not exactly green anymore in the sport, but he still has a bright future ahead of him.

A rather unexpected call

"Follow, the sun, and which way the wind blows", this earworm was a hit last year and known by all. Sam's story in pigeon racing is somewhat similar, though. Sam was studying for a job in the social sector, but found he had hands besides his head that he wanted to work with. Sitting in an office or glued to a screen all day was just not for him. He started working in a tree nursery and spent whole days in nature.  Love moved him from Roeselare to Adegem, but despite the fact that his father was also a heavy long-distance racer, pigeon racing had not yet caught his fancy. It was an issue in his life that only prevented him from playing football at the same time as pigeons would come....

Until another opportunity presented itself. Sam is nephew of Nicolas and Thomas Gyselbrecht of the auction house Pipa and the breeding colony PEC, and there they could still use some hands for taking care of the pigeons, helping with daily activities. The distance Adegem-Knesselare was ideal to wake up and the dormant family pigeon microbe broke out in Sam's case too.

In 2012, no longer against his will, but as a conscious choice, Sam was baptised in a substantial pigeon pool. 
In 2012, a loft aviary came to Adegem, some pigeons from Knesselare came to Adegem, but it was not an immediate success. Let us say that Sam had not yet found "his niche". The combination job-family-pigeon hobby had not yet fallen into place and a small voyage of discovery in pigeon country with some trial and error was the normal learning curve Sam went through.
Some flights were participated in, some prizes were won, the occasional top prize was won, but the constant was definitely not there yet.

A good confluence of circumstances

"Le corridor de la vie...." Tom Van Gaver (another youthful phenomenon) was caught up in dismantling the tridem DVV pigeons and wanted to keep some pigeons left over from his racers. He asked Sam to shelter some pigeons, stables or something and he did. Unintentionally, a great injection of quality came to Adegem.

Afterwards, and that was the agreement, youngsters were moved from Adegem to Moortsele with Tom and this coctail became a real blizzard resulting in top results for both. How dimes can roll...

Meanwhile, a lot of experience was also gained in caring for pigeons, handling pigeons, breeding pigeons and it became clear that a top colony was forming around Adegem church. Sam is coordinator of the PEC lofts , manages this team of colleagues and does a lot of pairings, inspections in consultation and consultation with Pascal Ariën.

The first resounding symptoms came in 2017 when Sam played himself champion in Fondclub Eeklo in the heavy middle distance with the yearlings. The nose had been put to the window.

Then in 2019, some 60 youngsters from the PEC breeding loft came to Adegem and another substantial injection of quality was added. With this base, Sam was really off and things kept going crescendo, culminating in a very strong 2023 season that was crowned with the 1st national ace long-distance yearling and 2nd place in the national long-distance championship.

How do you keep all these boards running ?

It's some planning in Adegem as in many families where both parents have a job fulfilment, young sporty children, and in addition a lot of time is spent on pigeon racing. Is this possible? Yes, if you plan and organise and keep the care fairly basic, it can be done.
The racing team consists of 22 yearlings and 8 old cocks that are raced on traditional widowhood. They are paired at the end of the year and are allowed to raise a nest. In preparation for the season, they are darkened to delay the forme a little until the national races arrive.
This care can easily be done in the morning (then the care is reduced to a minimum) to be able to spend more time on the pigeons in the evening.
When the temperatures become milder (read April-May), the training is increased from once a day to twice a day. In the initial phase, this training is an hour (if the pigeons do it spontaneously of course) and falls back during the season to twice 30 minutes.
In terms of time spent, it's not so bad, because during training the family comes into play. 
Before basketing, the cocks get nothing and are basketed away from the loft to keep them as quiet as possible and limit the time spent. When they return home, they get their hens.  Once they know this rhythm and schedule, motivation in itself is not a problem.
The feed being played with is the Aidi feed line. The feeding schedule prescribed by this feed manufacturer is followed, not more or not less and Sam is pleased to note that it more than meets the requirements to succeed at a high level. As supplements, mainly Wonderpigeon and oil are used over the feed, also not much more than this. This is then administered more or less depending on the races or the expected intensity of the races.
The system with which Sam wants to succeed (and succeeds) he prefers to keep as transparent, simple and practical as possible so as not to confuse anyone. This coupled with quality pigeons is apparently also a key to success.
Medically, besides the compulsory vaccinations, the pigeons are vaccinated with paratyphoid after the season and before the season. If the pigeons are infected, action will be taken, otherwise not. The yellow drops to eliminate trichomonas will be administered on Tuesday.
Anyway, Sam will try, where feasible, to treat the pigeon individually rather than in a group because he is convinced that it is not always necessary for the group, and individually has a better effect.

1st national ace long-distance yearling for Porsche III (Andre-Remi)

What a great title to achieve. The best yearling pigeon over 3 flights on flights of 600 km and more. 

And what a stage of young violence has made home here in the 2023 season. 

It is the magnificent yearling Porsche III (Andre-Remi) who provided this exploit by ranking top on the flights from Souillac, Limoges and Tulle, putting everyone else in the shade.

Last season, this yearling flew itself :

1st national ace long distance yearling kbdb
1st provincial ace pigeon long-distance yearling kbdb
2nd Olympiad pigeon cat I 2023
Co-winner of 2nd place in the national championship long-distance yearling kbdb

He is the breeding result of 2 yearlings where along father's side the Porsche line-Boxter can be found, along mother's side he is the breeding result of the Schumi pigeons (Norbert and Stefan Ally) x Vandenheede Freddy & Jacques.

A lot of top pedigree united in one pigeon with brilliant results.

2nd national champion yearlings KBDB

In addition to gaining a national ace pigeon, it was also a nice crowning achievement by gaining 2nd place in the national long-distance championship among the yearlings with the 1st and 2nd pigeon delivered.

This too is a performance to be licked. Kris Cleirbaut's ranking was unmatchable, but to come 2nd after such a performance and take silver in this ranking is to be justifiably proud of.

Additional proof of the presence of class and forme on Sam's lofts. 

Hereafter an overview of the pigeons that flew that beautiful trophy to Adegem

To conclude this report on Sam's pigeons, which had a super season last season, it is striking that a lot of youngsters are coming to the fore. There is apparently, within the renewal trend that is taking place in pigeon racing in recent years, room for the more daring. This should not be a slogan but rather shows that there is more to get out of the pigeons than we may have in mind because of tradition. 

With Sam, it is quality coupled with a thorough and transparent commitment that has determined this result. A rather late vocation in pigeon racing, averse to prejudices starting with top quality, then nurturing it according to some of his own sense and the advice of professionals around him, have led to brilliant results.

Life is for the young.....is also an observation in pigeon racing !

Congratulations from the Herbots team !

Geert Dhaenens