Semmerzake, in the heart of East Flemish pigeon racing. It is here that the pigeon colony of Patrick and Olivier De Smet is located. A loft with a rich national racing history; who doesn't know the name Andre and Patrick De Smet? With Olivier De Smet, the 3rd generation of the world-famous De Smet family has emerged. After grandfather Andre, grandmother Madeleine, and father Patrick, it's now up to Olivier, who was practically raised in the pigeon sport, to bring the name De Smet back to the top of the results.
Olivier, who lives at the same address as grandfather Andre and who renovated the old breeding lofts, where so many famous pigeons were born, into play lofts, took a fresh start. The season kicks off with 30 widowers, 28 racing hens, and 150 young birds. 24 breeding pairs are responsible for the offspring. In breeding, eggs from the best breeders are moved to the incubator, allowing the pigeons to hatch again.
The eggs from the incubator are later laid under a few foster pairs or pigeons that had issues during incubation, resulting in only one round of breeding with an age difference of 11 days.
The pigeon stock consists of their old breed Andre & Patrick De Smet, supplemented with various other breeds for all distances.
Every year, they can also count on about 20 young birds from Gino Clicque to complete the flying team of young pigeons to a total of 150 young birds. After the season, there is indeed a very strict selection, both for the racing pigeons and the other pigeons in the loft.
In tandem with his father, good agreements were made to tackle everything correctly from the start. Here, Olivier could rely on his father's years of experience, as well as the experience his father gained with Olivier's grandfather. Each tandem member knows their tasks, and everything is done in consultation. Without his father's help, he would not be able to compete at such a level with pigeons today. As a full-time working person, managing the care of the pigeons is almost impossible. For that reason, Olivier would like to express his gratitude to his father, who he can always count on. In terms of feed, the mixtures from Versele-Laga are on the menu, and as a byproduct, they primarily use Belgian Winners. Medically, they visit veterinarian Wim Boddaert about three times a year. He always assists them with advice, and they can always count on him, for which they are very grateful. Immediately, the results were satisfactory, and year after year, they are getting better. Below is a summary of the best pigeons of 2023 and the best results since 2020.
Results of "Bassa" BE 22-4093352: 4th Provincial Ace Pigeon Young Half Distance 2023
- Toury 8/1595 - 20/1808
- Toury 27/3322 - 80/1632
- Orleans 495/16471
- Noyon 403/3357
- Toury 12/811 - 7/473
- Orleans 461/15308 - 62/1111 - 315/9423
- Toury 6/1048 - 5/181 - 4/130
- Toury 1/1776 - 1/1213 - 1/181 - 1/136
- Toury 5/1039 - 5/679 - 2/186 - 2/150
- Toury 9/398 - 17/558 - 4/117
- Toury 9/496 - 14/326 - 4/89
- Orleans 141/3824 - 37/700 - 257/8078
Results of "Petrus" BE 21-4081921: 13th Best Pigeon PIPA Rankings 5 Long Distance Flights.
- Limoges 4/288 - 65/3841 - 25/2709 - 78/10381
- Cahors 9/82 - 290/4155 - 72/875 - 163/1191
- Limoges 10/213 - 35/2375 - 36/1898 - 185/7211
- Aurillac 7/108 - 72/1477 - 81/1151 - 439/5342
- Souillac 10/95 - 98/1473 - 111/1210 - 525/4827
But also
- Noyon 659/5708
- Massemy 487/1012
- Ecouen 229/2423
- Pont 52/1028
- Montoire 427/4518 - 96/5740
- Chateauroux 75/4164 - 7/344 - 9/429
- Gueret 1/260 - 2/1542 - 6/2857 - 44/12208
- Bourges 16/112
- Chateauroux 878/5720
- Orleans 25/1111 - 57/2824 - 113/9423 - 169/16411
- Vierzon 14/768 - 127/6489
Championships 2020
Local: Union et Liberté
• 5th Champion Sprint L-H Half Distance 1+2 O/J/J
• 7th Champion Heavy Half Distance Young
Championships 2021
Provincial:
• 9th Championship Sprint Young: 10/10
• 9th Championship Heavy Half Distance Young
Local: Union et Liberté
Championships
• 3rd Ace Pigeon Heavy Half Distance Young
• 5th Klokke Roeland Young
• 5th Heavy Half Distance Young
• 6th Klokke Roeland Young
• 8th Heavy Half Distance Young
• 9th Heavy Half Distance Young
Championships 2022
Local: Union et Liberté
• 1st Heavy Half Distance Old
• 1st Ace Pigeon Heavy Half Distance Old
• 3rd Ace Pigeon Heavy Half Distance Old
• 2nd Klokke Roeland Young
• 6th Klokke Roeland Young
• 8th Heavy Half Distance Young 1+2
Top Prizes in 2022
Noyon 1/3858
Noyon 1/1080
Noyon 1/936
Noyon 1/712
Gueret 1/237
Quiévrain 1/148
21/5 Vierzon 430 km
985 Old 🡪 7, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, … (25/44)
434 Young 🡪 10, 11, 13, 14, 23, 28, 30, … (15/31)
22/5 Quiévrain 60 km
148 Young 🡪 1, 3, 9, 12, 24, 41, 45,… (7/8)
30/5 Quiévrain 60 km
146 Young 🡪 12, 13, 14, 24, 33, 40, 61,… (7/8)
6/6 Noyon 160 km
250 Young 🡪 9, 33, 34, 87 (4/4)
2/7 Chateauroux 480 km
168 Young 🡪 11, 14, 20, 38, 43,… (5/7)
157 Old 🡪 6, 8, 15, 21, 30, 37, 40,… (7/11)
9/7 Gueret 548 km
237 Young 🡪 1, 3, 8, 9, 19, 21, 50, 52, 66, 71, 79, 95,… (12/18)
15/7 La Souterraine 545 km
151 Old 🡪 2, 4, 5 (3/4)
24/7 Noyon 160 km
1080 Young 🡪 1, 28, 344, 366 (4/5)
3858 Young 🡪 1, 70,…
30/7 Ecouen 230 km
905 Young 🡪 8, 9, 14, 17, 18, 37, 51, 52,… (65/110)
14/8 Noyon 160 km
936 Young 🡪 1, 6, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 27, 32,… (62/115)
3287 Young 🡪 4, 12, 17, 18, 29, 30, 31, 32, 44, 50,… (44/115)
20/8 Sermaises 315 km
658 Young 🡪 5, 8, 9, 16, 20, 28, 35, 36, 42, 44, 48, 49,… (44/93)
11/9 Noyon 160 km
712 Young 🡪 1, 4, 7, 8, 15, 43, 44, 46, 49, 50,… (51/93)
2220 Young 🡪 2, 16, 20, 21, 30,… (33/93)
Championships 2023
Local: Union et Liberté
• 3rd Ace Pigeon Long Distance
• 7th Championship Long Distance Young
• 7th Klokke Roeland Old
• 8th Klokke Long Distance Old
• 5th Memorial Championship Eddy Vermalen – Christine De Smet
Local: De Strijdersbond
Quevrain:
• 1st Kingship Young
• 2nd Five Battle Young
• 2nd General Champion
• 3rd Autumn Criterion
• 5th General Champion Five Battle
• 1st Super Ace Pigeon Young
• 2nd Super Ace Pigeon Young behind loft mate
• 1st Ace Pigeon Young 6 Flights
Noyon:
• 5th Kingship Young
• 6th Kingship Old
Toury:
• 1st Kingship Young
• 1st Five Battle Young
• 1st General King
• 1st Harvest Criterion
• 2nd Kingship Old
• 3rd General Championship Five Battle
• 4th Kingship Young
• 1st Super Ace Pigeon Young
• 2nd Super Ace Pigeon Young after loft mate
• 1st Ace Pigeon Young 4 Prizes
• 3rd Super Ace Pigeon Young
Orleans
• 1st Championship Tom Van Gaver with 1+2+3+4+5
Provincial:
• 4th Championship Young Half Distance 8/8
• 4th Ace Pigeon Young Half Distance (Bassa)
• 9th Championship Young Half Distance
National:
• 29th General Championship Belgium KBDB
• 33rd Ace Pigeon KBDB Young Half Distance (Bassa) – 4th Provincial
• 13th Ace Pigeon KBDB Old Long Distance – 5 Flights (Petrus)
In 2023, the following top prizes were won
10 times 1st prize
9 times 2nd prize
8 times 3rd prize
14 times 4th prize
…
1st 1776 Toury
1st 1213 Toury
1st 1022 Noyon
1st 181 Toury
1st 136 Toury
1st Noyon 163
1st Quievrian 17
1st Quievrian 22
1st Hannut 188 (round of Belgium)
1st Hannut 174 “
23rd national Chateauroux 2331
47th national Narbonne 5000
78th national Limoges 10381
79th international Narbonne 12491
….
"Billie"
Noyon 5/148 - 7/130 - 10/301
La Souterraine 2/52 - 8/592 - 6/295 - 47/3118
La Souterraine 2/60 - 17/754 - 30/1154 - 74/4907
Argenton 39/549 - 307/3107 - 527/5443 - 1797/21282
La Souterraine 5/232 - 67/3826 - 39/2159 - 477/14037
Chateauroux 6/611 - 43/3349 - 54/5710 - 372/22282
Issoudun 18/161 - 261/3125 - 149/1848 - 1137/14758
Bourges 29/684 - 204/3733 - 248/6261 - 753/25096
Chateauroux 216/7117 - 313/6569 - 766/20789
Vierzon 114/885
Chateauroux 15/344 - 7/31 - 26/138 - 99/368
Bourges 34/649 - 134/5031 - 153/7663 - 891/33410
Gueret 12/164 - 79/1240 - 130/1970 - 580/8375
Toury 8/162 - 26/1141 - 113/1039
"The 156"
Chateauroux 79/4458 - 144/3525 - 1143/15322
Sermaises 102/1449
Orleans 360/19203 - 174/8584 - 184/9275
Chateauroux 12/611 - 113/5710 - 89/3349 - 598/22196
Bourges 3/57 - 1093/25096
Montoire 3/298 - 6/498 - 24/5093 - 26/3534
Montoire 4/31 - 8/409
Orleans 12/776 - 15/1021 - 22/1982
Vierzon 7/954 - 105/7433
Argenton 343/4884 - 1138/20467
Gueret 920/8375
Noyon 4/124 - 4/108