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Wolvers-van't Oever: Success through Willem de Bruijn pigeons

24 Feb 2025

The Wolvers-van't Oever combination has made a furore in pigeon racing in recent years. With a sophisticated system and a strong strain of pigeons they managed to establish themselves in the top. One of the keys to their success? The influence of the Willem de Bruijn pigeons, which lifted their colony to a higher level.

The origin of the cooperation

In 2020 Ton Wolvers and Jan Van 'T Oever started the cooperation to fly from one of the strongest places in the Netherlands, namely Division 5. Ton Wolvers got infected with the pigeon bug as an 11-year-old. Until I was 16 years old I was messing around with racing pigeons. With the ex-father-in-law of my son, Dick van Seggelen, I played in combination and we had pigeons from Alex Wolf, Willie van Beers and Peter de Mooy. We played the program and reasonably well. Dick joined me, built the now existing loft but moved at one point. Jiabin Lin took care of my pigeons for a year but went back to his father. So I was without a loft keeper until Jan van't Oever started a conversation with me and one thing led to another and the cooperation was started. Jan van't Oever came in contact with pigeons through an uncle. In 1971 I kept some pigeons in a small loft of one meter by one meter in the barn. In 1973 I became a member of the Oude Blauwband in Lisse where I still live. I started with young pigeons but the start was dramatic. 

When I started working as a 17-year-old, a bigger loft came up in the garden. At that time I started playing in combination with my father Jan. In 1990 I bought a house and started there for myself. However, I had small children, did a lot of sports and the pigeons came third. In 2004 me and the pigeon sport became more serious. I played alone, picked up better pigeons and it went forward with steps. Because of my working hours I could never take care of the pigeons in the morning and I experienced that as an obstacle to grow. In 2008, after an operation, it was over with sports and I could concentrate more on the pigeon sport. From 2012 I played together with Frans van der Laan, who took care of my pigeons in the morning and we experienced golden times. In 2019 Frans suffered again from his lye which forced him to quit. In the same year I heard that Jan Wolvers was hiring a loft attendant starting in 2020. So I became a permanent employee of Jan. . Later Diego Wouters would also join as the PR person in charge during the racing season. Due to busy work in the care sector, it is impossible for Diego to practice the pigeon sport independently. He himself breeds and takes care of the pigeons that go to the various one loft races. In consultation with Ton, pigeons are exchanged between the lofts. This way they work to get better youngsters to the races. Every so often Ton also comes to take a look at the lofts at Diego's home. 

The basis of success

Every successful colony starts with strong foundations and that is exactly what Wolvers-van't Oever has managed to achieve. Throughout the years there has been focused investment in quality and some of the best lines from the loft of Willem de Bruijn have found their way into the loft.

De Bruijn is known for his incredibly fast and consistent pigeons, with a nose for winning middle distance and day long distance races. His strain has already brought successes to numerous lofts at home and abroad. Furthermore, pigeons from G&S Verkerk, Combinatie Lin, Gebroeders Scheele, W&R van de Kooy and several well-playing local fanciers provided the necessary reinforcements.

Breeding and preparation

The pairing of the 50 breeding couples starts in December. There are some fixed couples, couples that still have to be formed, are selected on good against good, compensation breeding and distance suitability. The racers are paired in mid-January and their eggs are replaced by the eggs from the second round of breeders. From the better racers we do breed youngsters. 

The game, motivation and disciplines

We started this year with 56 couples, from 40 couples the partner stayed at home, the other 16 couples were played on double widowhood. We motivate the pigeons by raking them on Tuesday or Wednesday during the week where the partners see each other, on basketing day they are not shown. We play on the speed, middle distance and one day long distance.

Care during the week

We train in the morning and afternoon. During the short distance races I first feed Matador Start, then a mix of Matador Athletic and Matador Turbo Energy. The latter is given to the pigeons on the day of basketing. On the middle distance, Matador Start is replaced by Matador Super Start. We also look at the last race. Was it heavy or light and to the coming race, I adapt the food accordingly. I use candy seed, hemp and daily fresh grit and minerals. When they come home, the pigeons get Matador Athletic and Matador Turbo. The old pigeons are not really darkened but stay in the twilight until the end of April, from the longest day they are lighted. The young pigeons are darkened from mid-March to the end of May and are lighted from the longest day. When the young pigeons move away sufficiently, we start training them. This happens first from the garden, followed by 1km and 3km distances. If they all come home well at 3 km then they are taken away in ten steps to 45km.Until 2 nights in the basket, all youngsters are together and are trained once a day. No litters are tolerated and with 2 nights basket the youngsters are played on the door and trained 2x a day. During the racing season the youngsters are rapped 1x a week . The youngsters are fed Matador Start, Matador Athletic and Matador Turbo. During warm weather they get Boardingmix of Matador. 

Health and medical supervision

Besides the mandatory vaccination, no yellowing is given during breeding. Jan has a microscope and can discover the yellow himself and take action. If the pigeons are ailing something they can't do anything about themselves, they go to veterinarian Stefan Gobel and only on his advice something is given. The young pigeons do get treated with the brush against smallpox. Once a week the water is acidified with Darba Complete from DHP and the youngsters get Colinol twice a week which helps against the colli. 

Selection after the racing season

After the last race there is a strict selection. From the 112 racers, 6 old cocks and 20 hens are left. Some old racers have moved to the breeding loft. If we have 30 old racers left it is too much to continue with, the rest will be replenished from the youngsters. A yearling must have raced at least 1x per 100 and preferably more. Youngsters with 14 prizes are selected on performance, pedigree and construction when they are fully grown. Performance and impact

The contribution of these top pigeons is clearly reflected in the results of Wolvers-van't Oever. Since the introduction of the Willem de Bruijn lines, performance has improved noticeably. In both the sprint, middle distance and one-day long distance races, several top rankings have been achieved in recent seasons, with peaks in both regional, divisional and national competitions. These pigeons also play a crucial role in the further development of the strain, with descendants that continue to excel generation after generation.

Achieved championships Midden Holland Oost 2024

  • 1 General Designated Champion
  • 1 Day Distance Designate
  • 1 Middle Distance Undesignated
  • 1 Pigeon Champion Young Pigeons
  • 2 General Undesignated Champion
  • 2 Middle Distance Designated
  • 2 Oondond Undesignated
  • 2 Pigeon Champion Long Distance
  • 2 Youngsters Undesignated
  • 2 Youngsters Designated
  • 2 Middle Distance Pigeon Champion
  • 3 Middle Distance Pigeon Champion
  • 3 Ace Pigeon Old

 

Some results 2024 Zwammerdam:

  • St. Soupplets 1557 pigeons 1-7-8-9-10-11-13-19-21-22-23-24-30-31-32-33-34-36-36-34-36-36-36-36-37-38-39-39-40-41-42-43-44-53
  • Niergnies 510 pigeons 1-10-19-50-54-91-139-140-146-147-163 (11/20)
  • Morlincourt 2763 pigeons 1-2-11-12-13-19-20-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-33-45-47-48-50-57-58-59-60-61-62 (112/170)
  • Fontenay 1990 pigeons 1-3-15-17-28-31-38-41-43-60-62-75-92-100 (60/86)
  • Melun Andrezel 2966 pigeons 1-2-3-4-6-7-25-26-28-30-38-45-47-48-60-61-63-64-73-74-88-89-91-93-94-99 (84/92)
  • Arras - Grevillers 3305 pigeons 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-10-12-13-14-20-22-33-34-36-38-39-42-43-46-52-53-57-59-60-65-68-69-70-74-76-85-89-92-100 (82/98)
  • Quievrain 1967 pigeons 1-4-5-6-9-10-11-12-21-22-23-24-25-26-30-31-37-38-39-40-41-42-45-46-47-49-51-71-80-81-82-85-98 (91/106)
  • Bierges 3837 pigeons 1-17-18-28-31-36-40-58-60-61-62-63-64-65-66-68-70-71-73-77-79- (66/107)
  • Pointoise 1512 pigeons 3-4-6-7-15-17-21-22-25-34-39-41-43-66-68-69-84 (41/73)
  • Nat Sector 2 Sainte Maure de Tour 9552 pigeons 3-44-122-142-143-179-188-288-324-325-337-358-450-482-504-530 (40/48)
  • Nat Sector 2 Issoudun ZAC 7415 pigeons 13-42-59-86-221-238-272-293-295-348-368-394-408-508-568-581-585-595 (35/47)
  • Nat Sector 2 Saulieu 9741 pigeons 13-15-35-74-109-157-159-200-201-311-313-335-341-410-420-427-436-479-481 (46/62)
  • NPO Issoudun 3762 pigeons 16-25-47-53-110-118-155-162-164-165-166-171 (32/45)

 

Some results One Loft Races 2024 (Team Wolvers - Wolf, Wolvers - van 't Oever and Wouters - Wolvers)

  • 1 Ace pigeon Moledo Derby Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal
  • 1 Best pigeon over Hotspot 1 2 3 Algarve Golden Race
  • 2 Final Moledo Derby Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal
  • 3 Final Teutoburgerwald OLR Germany
  • 4 Hotspot 3 Avirings Slovenia
  • 5 Ace pigeon Zagreb Derby Croatia
  • 5 Semi Final Algarve Great Derby Portugal
  • 5 Ace pigeon Teutoburgerwald OLR Germany
  • 5 Club Champion SYLT 2000 Germany
  • 6 Ace pigeon Teutoburgerwald OLR Germany
  • 8 Ace pigeon Teutoburgerwald OLR Germany
  • 8 Ace pigeon Moledo Derby Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal
  • 8 Hotspot 3 Moledo Derby Atlantic OLR Portugal
  • 9 Ace pigeon Avirings 3 Races Cup Slovenia
  • 9 Hotspot 3 Europa Masters Spain
  • 10 Hotspot 1 Moledo Portugal
  • 11 Ace pigeon Moledo Derby Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal
  • 11 Hotspot 5 Avirings Slovenia
  • 12 Ace pigeon Moledo Derby Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal
  • 13 Semi Final Moledo Atlantic Coast OLR Portugal

 

Willem De Bruijn his world class pigeons

 The decades of playing at the top of Willem De Bruijn does not remain unnoticed. The interest in his pigeons is increasing, not only because of the racing on his own loft, but especially because of the successes with his pigeons or descendants thereof on other people's lofts at home and abroad. So much interest, that through the cooperation between Wolver- van't Oever and the Herbots family it is a unique opportunity to acquire direct Willem De Bruijn pigeons in this auction. That these old pigeons all have the right genes is already certain , since their proven breeding results . The excellent results at Wolvers-van't Oever are therefore largely due to these pigeons. 

Herewith children and grandchildren from world famous De Bruijn pigeons such as

  • Zidane (buy2)
  • Miss Zidane (buy18 + buy19)
  • Uranus (buy3A) (buy3B + buy16 + buy17)
  • Floris Junior(buy 1B) (buy1A + buy3A + buy13B)
  • Marianne (buy1A) (buy1B + buy8 + buy13B)
  • Jeroen Junior (buy7A) (buy7B)
  • Cougar (buy8) (buy4 + buy20)
  • Brutus (buy9A) (buy9B)
  • Bombarie (buy 13A) (buy1B + buy 13B)
  • Countess (buy11A) (buy11B)
  • Jacob (buy5A + buy6) (buy5B)
  • Amelie (buy5A + buy6) (buy5B)
  • Garmin (buy14)
  • Arie (buy10)
  • Olympic Hurricane (buy1A + buy3B + buy4 + buy16 + buy17 + buy20)
  • Hurricane Junior (buy4 + buy20) ( buy7B + buy9B + buy18 + buy19)
  • Miss Hurricane(buy3B + buy16 + buy17)

The future

With the solid basis and proven value of the Willem de Bruijn pigeons, Wolvers-van't Oever look to the future with confidence. Through strict selection and the continued inbreeding of top material, they continue to build a rock-solid loft that continues to score high on both regional and national level. Wolvers-van't Oever prove once again that the pigeons of Willem de Bruijn are synonymous with speed, hardiness and above all success.