François Oudermans Triumphs in Provincial Flights

Westmalle - Saturday June 15th 2024 was an exceptionally successful day for François Oudermans, better known as Sus among his friends, and his wife Nicole. With seven first prizes in one day, François established his reputation as a pigeon fancier in Belgium.

Victory in Fay-aux-Loges
His pigeon with ring number BE23-6035610 won 1st place in the Union West for old birds, as well as 1st place for yearling birds. This pigeon also won 1st place for old and yearling pigeons locally in Schilde and finished 4th of 4.841 pigeons provincially. The father of this pigeon came from Thibault Seiffert (purchased as a voucher) and has ring number BE17-6222177, while the mother BE16-6029356 is from own breeding.

Main prize in Vivonne (Poitiers)
Another remarkable performance came from the hen with ring number BE22-6082855. This pigeon, which finished 20th National Ace Pigeon in 2023, won for François the 1st Provincial Vivonne (Poitiers) for the province of Antwerp against 1.041 old birds (3rd Provincial against 2.685 birds). She also won the 1st Nat.Z Vivonne against 3.161 old & yearling birds.
Nationally this translates to:
8th National Vivonne against 9.015 old birds 
13th National Vivonne against 19.589 old & yearling birds
On previous national races this year the same pigeon did anything but bad:
Bourges: 1063rd National against 24.006 old birds
Argenton: 575th National against 16.547 old birds

This hen is currently ranked 10th best pigeon nationally over three flights. The father, with ring number BE19-6207469, comes from Jan and Tom Iwens (also bought as a voucher), while the mother BE15-6201435 comes from own breeding. This pair are also the grandparents the 1st National Zone B2 yearling from Tom Kermans.

François' Dilemma
Despite these successes, François faces a dilemma. This weekend, his second signed pigeon, a very good one, was left behind. There is a bit of a scare because good pigeons are not plentiful with him either. François has a loft stock of 22 breeding couples and breeds 1 round of 40 early youngsters from these. He breeds the 2nd round together with his 22 breeding couples and the racers and from this he produces around 85 youngsters for his own use and 15 youngsters for donating vouchers.

Medical Care and Guidance
François closely follows vet Fernand Mariën's medical schedule. This includes four visits a year, mineral supplements, condition powder, and once a month syrup. He also adheres to mandatory vaccinations, including a brush treatment against pox. Blind cures he never does; he relies completely on the performance of his pigeons.

Recent Results
François' pigeons have consistently produced excellent performances. Below is a summary of some recent results:
Noyon (28-04-2024): 
1st, 2nd, 4th, 8th, 15th, 17th, 30th, 49th, 54th, 61st, 62nd, 70th, 71st of 755 pigeons (25/43)
Sermaise (11-05-2024): 
10th, 14th, 64th, 79th, 102nd, 112th, 240th, 243rd, 300th out of 10.496 pigeons (16/24)
Sermaises (18-05-2024): 
14th, 30th, 52nd, 53rd, 66th, 72nd, 111th, 144th, 174th, 205th out of 1.132 pigeons (15/31)
Sermaises (25-05-2024): 
10th, 25th, 39th, 46th, 70th, 81st, 118th, 136th, 157th out of 1.015 pigeons (13/24)
Sermaises (08-06-2024): 
2nd, 6th, 12th, 44th, 68th, 79th, 93rd, 110th, 120th, 122nd out of 883 pigeons (11/18)
Fay-aux-Loges (15-06-2024): 
4th, 148th, 313rd, 418th, 918th, 958th of 4.841 pigeons (10/17)
Union West (15-06-2024): 
1st, 10th, 31st, 38th, 90th, 96th, 112th of 704 pigeons (10/17)

With these impressive performances, François Oudermans remains a name to reckon with in pigeon racing.

François & Nicole, a performance like that certainly deserves a toast! 
We would like to congratulate you once again on your recent performance and wish you all the best for the remainder of the season from the entire Herbots team!

Maarten Herbots