How did you come into contact with the pigeon sport?
As a young boy I was introduced to racing pigeons by my father. He started with pigeons in the early 70’s. Our interests started from there and has never left us. On weekends as a young boy it was my responsibility to clean the lofts. Make sure all the drinkers were clean. During summer school vacation it too was expected of me to clean the loft daily. We did this for many years. As a teenager we took a career path that prevented me from having pigeons. On the 1990’s I got married and decided I wanted to keep a few pigeons so we started all over again. We purchased a few pigeons and was fortunate enough to obtain a good group of stock birds
What does your loft stock consist of, which breed or bloodlines?
Our breeding loft consists of birds we have obtained in the Netherlands. We have had the good fortune to acquire pigeons from some of the top lofts. Names like Arie Dijkstra, Tj & Jouke Elzinga, Albert Timmerman, Jan & Jelte Jan Hopman, Sjoerd Fennema, Johny Van Den bei, Nico & Ivo van der Veen, and Meindert De Jong.
What are your favorite distances.
We enjoy flying all distances. WE like a pigeon that can fly 100-740 kms. We are flying a very tough East Course that consists of alot of headwinds or side wind races.
When does the breeding season start for you.
We like to start breeding in January, We are breeding sometimes for OLR’s and like to have enough youngsters available to fly on a club, combine level as well enter into the OLR’s
How do you put together the breeding couples and what do you pay special attention to?
When i am putting my couples together I am looking for the best eye sign pigeons to match together along with the size of the pigeons, muscle, body confirmation as well as previous breeding records. We try to mate the best to the best.
What is your objective for the coming years?
In the next few years it is our goal to produce a team that will be competitive at both the Club, Combine, OLR levels. At the short & long distance races. Capable of competing under tough weather conditions. Both in Young birds & Old Bird competition.