A visit to François Michaux's lofts and a more than successful end to the season!

History of the colony

Today we visited a colony in Mariembourg, well known in the Entre Sambre et Meuse region of Wallonia and well beyond our borders.  The name of a village that immediately brings to mind François Michaux, a passionate supporter of our sport who has just enjoyed another exceptional season!  At the start of this winter, we were lucky enough to be able to find out a little more about this colony, which goes from strength to strength! The sport of pigeon racing, which he has been involved in since the age of 12, has always been his passion. It's a passion that came to him thanks to a person who is no stranger to us, Guy Regnier, also a long-distance specialist.
After 5 years in the game, François had to put this passion on hold for his studies, but the love of pigeons has always remained strong and omnipresent. At the age of 18, he crossed paths with Filip Herbots at a Télévie sale, which enabled him to start trading pigeons in collaboration with the Herbots family in 1995. The start of a great story! This enabled him to meet many pigeon fanciers and their colonies all over Europe. Seeing lots of pigeons, getting to know a multitude of different systems and learning little tricks.This work has enabled him to come into contact with the best and to learn so that he can correct, refine and improve his own system. It's important to be able to make your own system! You have to keep challenging yourself if you want to move forward!
In 2007, François was finally able to get back into the swing of things by teaming up with André Charles de Lobbes, who passed on his winning mentality to him! Together they won numerous titles and victories, including Belgian champion in 2011 and a first Argenton national in 2009. The tone was set for the future!
In 2010, after buying his own house, François decided to strike out on his own and start again. The first pigeon lofts were built on the roofs of his house. These magnificent, spacious and well-designed facilities provide shelter for some of the travellers. The rest of the facilities were built over the years. With the 100 youngsters welcomed by his loyal partner André Charles, the adventure could begin in Mariembourg. The objective was middle-distance running, and not without success, with superb results from the very first year!
Two years later, he had already achieved a third national title in Montélimar (with a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth, as the pigeon was controlled too late, costing him first place on the podium...). Even now, François can always count on André for advice before, after or during the season. Just like other amateurs such as Raf Herbots, Erik Limbourg, Vincent Schroëder, Hilair Surinx, ...) Specialists who can give him a more 'objective' opinion in certain circumstances to help a situation evolve in the right direction. A move towards the basics was not long in coming, as in 2016 the step had been taken. Here, the pigeons must be capable of winning at all distances! A good pigeon must be able to win or fly in the lead over all distances! That's why selection is so important.  You have to be tough and strict if you want to build something solid with an eye to the future. The sport and the pigeons are evolving so fast that you have to be able to keep up and adapt. There's no time to rest on your laurels, you have to keep moving forward!

Colony and composition of the racing teams.
At the start of the season, the Mariembourg colony is made up of around 100 widowers (old and yearlings combined), 30 females used for widowhood, 12 females used naturally for the long distance and around 180 youngsters. This represents quite a lot of work to manage throughout the year.
As of this new sporting year, the aim will be to change the travellers' programme slightly. The widowers will go out more often on the fond competitions. 5 or 6 fond competitions will be programmed. The aim is to play them for less time and to be able to put them to stud more quickly and benefit from them to strengthen the colony. There is no really predefined programme for the widowers in terms of competitions. This will be decided as the season progresses (fitness, wind, weather, etc.). As mentioned above, the selection is very severe because at the end of the season there will only be 30 to 35 places left for the old pigeons after the competitions and selection according to results. The yearlings will be selected less severely. (The pigeon must at least have done a first in speed/middle distance races or have shown regular results).
The 30 females will be divided into 2 teams; the first will have 4 fond competitions on the schedule (one each week). The best will be put to stud immediately at the end of the season and the others will become widower females. The other team will fly  Agen and Narbonne or two nationals and Narbonne to finish. When they are two years old, they will move to the females' loft to be played naturally and to fly the longest distances in the programme. The 12 natural females, in their loft, will of course be destined for the Grand Fond. 6 will go to Barcelona and the other half to Pau.
Finally, there are the 180 youngsters who will ensure the future of the colony. In 2022, François was able to count on 20 youngsters from Adrien Mirabelle and this year, as last year, he will also have been able to count on 25 youngsters from Herbots to strengthen the youth team. It's fair to say that the quality is there! In order to achieve this number of youngsters, François mates his breeding stock on 15 December so that they can start the season as early as possible, which is very important. Half of the widowers will also be bred and will all raise a youngster.
The breeding loft has 30 pairs, the best of which will have a new female after each mating and laying. François puts a lot of faith in the stallions, the good sires. That's why he changes the females of these top males every time he tries to find a winning pair. It's important to remember that to earn his place in the breeding loft, the pigeon will have to prove himself to deserve his locker! He will need at least 2 national top 50 finishes and victories in speed and middle distance to get his place.  12 pairs of breeders will also be on hand to pass on the eggs of the best breeding pairs.
When it comes to breeding, François always tries to bring in fresh blood so that he can continue to work and develop a bloodline that is gradually being built up. He also wants to keep around 25% of the pigeons from a middle-distance line to keep the 'punch' in the pigeons, to keep their power and speed!

A typical day at François Michaux's lofts.
Since this winter, a caretaker, Morgan Dermonne, has been assisting François with the daily tasks, which is a great help to him in all the work he has to do. During the 'quiet' (winter) season, everything has to be kept as simple as possible. Thanks to the acquisition of the automatic crate system, the time saved is enormous and makes the work easier. All the pigeons are cared for once a day and no flocks are planned. This is not the case in the high season, when the alarm goes off at 5am in this small village in the commune of Couvin, and things get more serious! Time is of the essence, because you have to be able to combine pigeons with your professional life! To begin with, the breeders are cleaned and cared for until around 5.45am. Around 6am, the flocks of racing pigeons begin. The widowers and females have their only flight of the day, which lasts about an hour. By 8.30 everyone has returned and been cared for, and it's time for François to return to his insurance office. On his return, the pigeons are groomed for the second time. As for the youngsters, they do their flock in the early afternoon, around two o'clock. This is before many amateurs come to train their pigeons. In this way, he tries to limit possible disasters in the region. When the youngsters start flying for about 30 minutes, the first training sessions take place.
Here at Mariemboug, there is no real guideline when it comes to feeding. Depending on their state of fitness, fatigue, etc., the menu will be adapted. But we can say that the basic mixes are Beyers super veuvage and Vandenabeele. A handful of grit will also be given every day on the floor. No more, no less

Preparing for the season.
At the start of the season, it's a good idea to check on the health of our winged friends. This is why at the beginning of March, a crop of droppings will be sent (alternately to Vincent Schroeder and Raf Herbots) for inspection, followed by a visit. Depending on the results, treatment may or may not be given. Following a rigid system is no longer the order of the day here.  As far as the respiratory tract is concerned, treatment will be postponed until as late as possible; generally speaking, the first treatment will be given before Limoges.During the season, a small tricho treatment will still be administered from the national competitions from the Saturday before the start of the season to Sunday lunchtime (1x per month). No other treatment will be carried out 'blindly' without the advice and diagnosis of the vet. Give as little as possible and only when necessary!
The pigeons also receive very few additional products, but a cure of Herbots condition powder is administered for 10 days at the start of the season. The most important thing is that the pigeons recover well. As far as the first flights and training are concerned, it is important to know that this region has a high pressure of birds of prey and that is why the first flights do not take place before mid-February, weather permitting.  When the weather conditions are right, training can begin. Widowers and females will be trained every other day from 20kms up to 100kms and trying to take pigeons from other fanciers as well. This will be done at least 8-10x before the first competition. During the season there will be no more extra training, except for the big bottom females which will be, as soon as an opportunity arises.
To prepare the youngsters, the procedure will be more cautious. An initial training session of 2 kms will be scheduled, followed by a gradual increase to 70-80 kms. They will need to train at least 10-15 times before the first competition.

The new season is fast approaching and we wish François all the best for the 2024 sporting year.

For the Herbots team,

Lelièvre-Damit Julien