Willy Simons from Maaseik wins 1st Provincial Agen Limburg

Maaseik - Willy Simons from Maaseik achieved a remarkable performance on the national flight from Agen. With his pigeon BE22-5077324, he achieved first place in the province of Limburg against 568 old birds. Moreover, this pigeon was the fastest of 1,126 old and yearling pigeons in the province.

At international level, BE22-5077324 finished in 17th place against 9,535 old birds, while at national level, the pigeon came 17th out of 6,435 old birds (26th out of 13,831 old birds and yearlings combined).

By the way, his winning pigeon flew a 48th Prov. Tulle against 942 pigeons earlier in 2023, so one year later she shoots the top prize at provincial level.

Basic pigeons and breeding stock

Simons' basic pigeons are descendants of "Oud Doffertje 224" and his son "De 16", supplemented with descendants of the best pigeons from Freialdenhofen and sons. Simons' breeding stock consists of 18 breeding couples, from which 100 youngsters are bred every year.

Flight team and widowhood

Simons' racing team consists of 60 cocks on widowhood, divided into 34 old and 26 yearlings. They play exclusively with cocks. The widowers are paired for the first time around 20 February and separated again after 10 days of breeding. About four weeks later they are coupled again and separated after 5 days of incubation, after which widowhood begins. The pigeons are reared as soon as weather conditions allow. This year, the pigeons were trained up to Gien, after which the old pigeons were divided into three teams: Pau, Agen and Barcelona. The focus here is on the international races. The yearlings fly two to three long-distance races of 700 kilometres, while the youngsters are trained with the third batch up to a distance of 200 kilometres.

Medical guidance and supplements

Willy keeps medical supervision to a minimum. At the second pairing, the pigeons are given a five-day cure against tricho. In addition, supplements such as De Weerd's Belgasol on their arrival home and Herbots' Aminovit are used one or two days before basketing.

Willy Simons' approach is proving fruitful, both now and in the past. Willy already won several championship titles in the province of Limburg in 2018 with his Freialdenhofen descendants, and in 2020 he also achieved a 1st provincial Marseille against 426 pigeons. His pigeon BE22-5077324 has given an impressive performance with this victory, at provincial, national and international level.

Willy, congratulations from the whole Herbots team!

Maarten Herbots