Gunther Smet (Lokeren) wins the 1st Provincial Argenton East Flanders against 661 yearlings and old birds

Lokeren - Lokeren fancier Gunther Smet put in an impressive performance at the Argenton national flight last weekend. With his hen BE22-4145377, he won the first provincial prize for East Flanders, with the best time among 661 yearlings and old birds. Out of a total of 3,682 pigeons in the province of East Flanders, the hen was ranked 11th. At national level, it achieved a fine 6th place out of 3,375 yearlings and old birds.

System

Gunther started the pigeon season with around 60 old pigeons and yearlings in full widowhood. "I used to play on classic widowhood, where the partners stayed at home. For the last three seasons, I've adapted this system to keep fewer pigeons, which saves a lot of time in care," explains Gunther. The number of breeding pairs has also been drastically reduced. "Of the 30 pairs I used to have, I now have just six. The other youngsters come from the runners."

"The number of youngsters has also been reduced. "Whereas I used to breed 140 youngsters, I started this season with 62 youngsters: 38 I bred myself, four I got through vouchers I had bought and 20 I bought from Jos & Jan Loobuyck."

Gunther concentrates mainly on long-distance races (600-800 km). "After the last long distance race, Tulle, both sexes were allowed to stay together to raise a couple of youngsters. They are now played on the nest for the next national races, purely for fun, because with my youngsters, I don't play the national races. They only fly on the small Toury half-distance and on a large provincial half-distance.

The winner and the other top birds

The Argenton provincial winner was basketed on a 12-day incubation. "She is a daughter of the nest sister of "De Jos", my national winner from Bergerac last season," said Gunther. Gunther's second pigeon finished third in the national zone and 40th nationally. "This cock comes from Team Debo in Vichte and descends from a strong line: a Paul Callens pigeon via Germain Mahieu on his father's side who did an 18th national in Dax and a 33rd national in Cahors, and Luc Delaere's "Tieke" line on his mother's side."

Gunther's third pigeon, a hen (BE23-4125440), is considered his best yearling and has already secured a first place against 2,087 pigeons from Toury and a first place against 622 pigeons from Noyon. At Argenton, she was ranked 135th pigeon nationally. "She is descended from my "Sjaak", who won the first national zone against 8,663 pigeons from Châteauroux, and on her mother's side she is a granddaughter of my double provincial winner "James", 1st provincial La Souterraine against 1,784d and 1st provincial Bourges against 1,765d."

Toury for the youngsters

Gunther's youngsters flew in from Toury (355km) because he doesn't let them play on the nationals. They too did more than well with locally 1,2,3,4,6,7,10,13,14,15,19,34,57,62,63,82 (16/26). The icing on the cake was that they also took first place against 1,854 youngsters in the association.

Food and care

Gunther's feeding system is based on Aidi's mixes. "Back home, the pigeons receive Belgasol from De Weerd in the drinking water and Aidi Protein Boost in the feed, supplemented with Aidi Omega Plus oil. As by-products, I give fresh grit daily and Aidi Carbo Boost on Wednesdays.

Domien Van Acker, a veterinary surgeon from Eksaarde, provides medical supervision. "He gives the pigeons the necessary vaccinations and we only do them on his advice. Over the course of the season, we visit him about three times.

With this victory, Gunther Smet has once again shown that his approach and passion for pigeon racing are paying off. Gunther, congratulations from the whole Herbots team!

Maarten Herbots