Today we are visiting Opwijk at the tandem Jacobs W-J & Zn. The last season concluded with 16 x 1st prize, 18 x 2nd prize, and 18 x 3rd prize, from Noyon to Gueret. True all-rounders with the Verkerk breed as the foundation. As the icing on the cake, the last 2 seasons father and son Jacobs brought home 2 nominations for Olympiad pigeon. With “Willem-Jan”, already good for 6th World Best Pigeon middle distance in 2022, and with “Blue Saphier” who this year won 19th World Best Pigeon Allround.
At the Jacobs home, the season starts with 56 widowers played on the classic widowhood system. The widowers do not participate in winter breeding and only come to the lofts around mid-February. During the winter period, they are kept in spacious runs, allowing the pigeons to receive a dose of oxygen, while cleaning work is also limited. In mid-February, they are paired and allowed to brood for about 5 days; after that, the eggs are removed and classic widowhood begins. Training starts in mid-March, and once the pigeons are flying well around the loft, the training flights begin. Serious effort is made, and when the pigeons are at 25 km, they are released loft by loft. The larger the group of pigeons, the more dangerous the obstacles on the return route, and another advantage is that the pigeons must keep a better lookout themselves to find their way home instead of just following the large group. After this training flight period, they will then participate in their first race with the association around mid-April.
Since 2020, they also have a loft with flying hens; about 30 competitors will reside there next season. Unlike the widowers, these hens do raise a nest during winter. These flying hens are also played on the classic widowhood system and paired together with the first round of breeders. These flying hens then serve as fostering pairs, ensuring that the 2nd round of breeders closely follows the first round. Once the young are raised, training at home for the flying hens begins, following the same patterns as the widowers. In the races, both the doffers and the hens are played every weekend. After all, rest rusts. Only in very exceptional cases will there be a deviation from this.
The season 2023 commenced on April 30th (due to weather conditions) with a race from Noyon. Immediately, the main bird in the club was shot against 337 pigeons with the BE22-2091542 “Blue Saphier”. This doffer had already shown as a young pigeon to possess the right qualities by winning 69th place at Bourges national against 23846 pigeons. He also made a name for himself as a young pigeon at Orleans 17/7205, Noyon 9/2056, Noyon 14/543 & Noyon 24/522.
The second race was already scheduled for the following week at Toury. Against 223 pigeons, they started with a full podium and 9 pigeons per 10, resulting in 26 prizes out of 67. The 3rd spot was taken by BE20-2019154 “Willem-Jan,” the top performer of the loft who became 6th World Best Pigeon middle distance FCI in the 2022 season, taking the next step towards a ranking for the Olympiad 2024 in Maastricht. “Willem-Jan” is a product of the friendship with Patrick Van Den Abbeel. The mother of Willem-Jan is a full sister of “Nafi,” the wonder pigeon who in Lebbeke was 2nd National as pigeon Heavy Middle Distance young KBDB 2018.
The next assignment on the schedule was Orleans, where locally they started with the 3rd prize against 288 pigeons with the doffer BE21-2128049 “Hot Volcano” and had 10 pigeons in the top 20, achieving 30 prizes from 54. “Blue Saphier” came in 2nd to the loft and secured a 5th place.
The performance increased steadily, as noted by the results from the following week at Toury. With 1133 m/m, it was truly pigeon weather, and against 272 pigeons, the following results were achieved: 1-4-6-7-8-9-10-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-24-26-28-29-30-30-32 … (39/59)
In the association, they started with a 4th prize against 1015 pigeons and 22 out of the 59 in the first 100 prizes. The first pigeon to arrive in Opwijk was the BE22-2091583 “New Marcel,” a pigeon bred in partnership with Aelbrecht Hugo & Hans. This strong yearling doffer also flew at Chateauroux 25/1472, Orleans 14/558, Noyon 14/375, Argenton 14/254, etc.…
“Blue Saphier” was also present again and grabbed the 4th spot again out of 272 pigeons, good for a 20th place out of 1015 pigeons in the association.
The tone was set, and “Blue Saphier” went as the top bird to Bourges national, the first real appointment of the season. The pigeons were released early Saturday morning with a light NE wind; at 14:16 at 1178 m/m, the first pigeon appeared, the BE22-2091676 “Blue Basso.” Good for a 2nd place locally, 4th provincial, 5th zonal, and 23rd nationally. A doffer who as a young pigeon had flown only 2 times to Noyon and once to Sermaises, and a half-brother of “Blue Prince,” who a year earlier won a 2nd provincial Issoudun from 1126 pigeons and 29th nationally from 8151 pigeons.
2 minutes later, at 1172 m/m, the next pigeon appeared, the 1st marked “Blue Saphier,” good for a 6th place provincially, 8th zonally, and 39th nationally. Another top performance from this giant!
For the old ones, it was BE21-2128049 “Hot Volcano” who at 14:27 at 1142 m/m registered, good for 2nd place locally against 262 pigeons and 15th provincially. With 13/18 in the old and 15/26 in the yearlings, they could look back proudly on the first real test of the season.
Later it became clear that the train had departed for the rest of the season, resulting in several impressive outcomes. That these results do not just come out of the air is evident and is due to years of careful observation for strengthening, work on the loft, and constantly being open to improvement. And sometimes Lady Fortune lends a hand, like the story of the 1st national as pigeon Heavy Middle Distance young KBDB 2019 “Remco.” Jeroen: It was in 2017 when the miracle man from what was still Lebbeke, Patrick Van Den Abbeel, contacted us about a voucher that was for sale online. It was decided to lend 4 hens. One of these hens, “Cleopatra,” turned out to be a breeding wonder and gave them in the first year “Jolien,” a hen that managed to win 1st place 4 times as well as various other top prizes. The year after, Remco was born and brought them the title of 1st national as pigeon Heavy Middle Distance young KBDB 2019.
Since then, pigeons have been exchanged every year with successes for both lofts. In the meantime, we can consider Patrick a very good friend and we always try to improve each other. He is now in partnership with Rony Peleman, with whom we have had a close friendship for years and whom we can always turn to for advice. Their first year as a tandem turned out to be a success immediately, including the 3rd national as pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Young KBDB 2023 with “Shericka,” which has a bit of the bloodline from the tandem in Opwijk. We’re quite proud that we share a small part of their successes. This indicates that not only do our stock pigeons perform well here, but they also excel with others, Jeroen concludes.
In this auction, the combination offers a number of weaning young pigeons from the best breeders of the loft. Pigeons that fly 1st prizes and various prizes per 10, and this generation after generation still gives the most chance for success in breeding.
Some highlights from recent years
- 6th National Acepigeon World Best Pigeon Middle Distance FCI 2022 with “Willem-Jan”
- 19th National Acepigeon World Best Pigeon Allround FCI 2023 with “Blue Saphier”
- 12th Nat.Champ.KBDB Small Distance Old 2011
- 2nd Prov.Champ.KBDB Small Distance Old 2010
- 3rd Prov.Acep.KBDB Allround YB 2022 with “Olivia”
- 3rd Prov.Champ.KBDB Heavy Middle Distance Yearbirds 2013
- 2nd Prov.Acep.KBDB Small Distance Old 2010 with "Nero"
- 4th Prov.Acep.KBDB Small Distance Yearbirds 2009 with "Nero"
16-2148511 “Greg”
- Reserve Olympiad Pigeon 2018 Cat D
- Wins 4 times top 126 National level & 8 times 1/100
- 5 x 1st prize
- 1st Provincial Gueret
- 1st FCD Chateauroux
- 1st Bourges
- 1st Argenton
- 1st Noyon
18-2133420 “Romelu”
- 20th Best Argenton pigeon KBDB 3 prizes PIPA-Rankings 2021
20-2019050 “Always There”
- 66th Best Yearling PIPA-Rankings 8 prizes on national flights 2021
20-2019154 “Willem-Jan”
- 6th National Acepigeon FCI World Best Pigeon Middle Distance 2022
- Candidate Olympiad pigeon B (Halve Fond) 2024 Maastricht
- 4 x 1st prize
- Vierzon 1/ 645
- 4/ 7433
- Orleans 1/ 1088
- 30/21087
- Sermaises 1/ 709
- 5/ 1682
- Noyon 1/ 289
- Orleans 2/ 132
- 9/ 1824
- Noyon 2/ 399
- Issoudun 8/ 720
- 12/ 1126
- Argenton 18/ 1140
- Bourges 71/ 4401
22-2091526 “Olivia”
- 3rd Provincial Acepigeon All-Round YB KBDB 2022
- Noyon 3/ 522
- Bourges 23/ 3555
- 161/23846
- Noyon 4/ 375
- Noyon 63/ 2056
- Orleans 12/ 315
- Sermaises 84/ 1457
- Chateau 176/ 2334
- Orleans 547/ 7093
22-2091588 “Lizzie”
- 24th Best pigeon GMD KBDB 3 prizes PIPA-Rankings 2023
- 33rd Best pigeon GMD KBDB 7 prizes PIPA-Rankings 2023
- 45th Best Chateauroux Pigeon 2 prizes (2022-2023) PIPA-Rankings
- 35th Best Bourges Pigeon 2 prizes (2023) PIPA-Rankings
- 3 times top 10 national zone B1
- Vierzon 3/ 1081
- Vierzon 8/ 1370
- Chateauroux 10/ 1588
22-2091542 “Blue Saphier”
- 2 times top 100 national on Bourges/Vierzon
- 19th National Acepigeon FCI World Best Pigeon Allround 2023
- Candidate Olympiad pigeon Cat D (Allround) 2024 Maastricht
- 7 times 1/100
- Bourges/Vierzon 39/ 18729
- 68/ 23846
- 23-2100927 “Alice”
- 288th National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2023
- Argenton 113/ 2372
- Bourges 159/ 2942
- Chateauroux 107/ 1576
21-2026461 (Bred by Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced by Van Den Abbeel – Van Paesschen)
- 27th National Acepigeon All-Round YB KBDB 2021
21-2026462 “Blue Azzuro” (Bred by Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced by Van Den Abbeel – Van Paesschen)
- 20th National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2021
- 23rd Best YB National KBDB flights PIPA-Rankings 4 prizes 2021
23-2100827 “Mondo” (Bred by Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced by Van Den Abbeel – Peleman)
- 75th National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2023
- 42nd National Acepigeon All-Round YB KBDB 2023
19-4050583 “Remco” (50 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Van Paesschen)
- 1st National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2019
- Chateauroux I 1/ 644
- Prov. 4/ 5165
- Chateauroux II Prov 4/ 3930
- Argenton (Zone) 18/ 6657
- Nat. 70/23258
18-4002185 “Jolien” (50 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Van Paesschen)
- Full Sister Remco
- 5 times 1st prize
- Fay-Aux-Loges Br.U. 1/ 387
- Chevrainvilliers 1/ 207
- Chevrainvilliers 1/ 135
- Chateauroux 1/ 104
- Prov. 2/ 1107
- Argenton 1/ 97
- Nat. 16/ 5158
- Bourges 4/ 160
- Chateauroux Prov. 17/ 374
- Vierzon Prov. 22/ 1055
- Argenton Prov. 43/ 3446
Already mother to 20-4041293 « Nikki »
- Argenton Prov. 1/ 1752
- Nat. 7/ 9851
- La Souterraine Prov. 2/ 592
- Nat. 5/ 3084
- Sermaises 8/ 1709
- Bourges Prov. 12/ 2373
22-4014550 (50 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Van Paesschen)
- 28th National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2022
- Noyon 3/ 349
- Chateauroux 8/ 4304
- Bourges 333/23847
- Argenton 68/ 3135
- Noyon 158/ 2188
23-4091759 (50 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Peleman)
- 69th Best YB National KBDB flights PIPA-Rankings 2 prizes 2023
- 55th Best YB National KBDB flights PIPA-Rankings 4 prizes 2023
23-4091819 (50 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Peleman)
- 49th Best YB National KBDB flights PIPA-Rankings 2 prizes 2023
- 72nd Best YB National KBDB flights PIPA-Rankings 4 prizes 2023
23-4091707 “Shericka” (12.5 % Jacobs W-J & Zn/ Raced & bred by Van Den Abbeel – Peleman)
- 3rd National Acepigeon YB KBDB GMD 2023
- Argenton 1/ 4217
- Bourges 6/ 4216
- Bourges 39/ 4988
Results 2023 Old/Yearlings
30/04 Noyon
Club 337 old/yearlings: 1/2/4/5/6/8/18/19/21/23/27/30/30/30/33 …
VNVB 3335 old/yearlings: 22/69/100/106/119 … (33/71)
Club 188 yearlings: 1/2/3/4/7/8/10/13/16/28 …
VNVB 2054 yearlings: 13/42/60/68 … (18/48)
06/05 Toury
Club 223 old/yearlings: 1/2/3/7/13/16/18/20/22/26/28 … (26/67)
Association 868 old/yearlings: 4/10/18/29/70/79/88 … (28/67)
Club 129 yearlings: 1/7/11/12/14/20/21/22/23 … (16/45)
Association 480 yearlings: 5/41/60 … (14/45)
VLB HEN ANT o/y 454: 1/2/4/10/22/28/31/33/36/43/45/51 … (29/67)
VLB HEN ANT old 221: 1/3/7/14/16/25/27 … (13/22)
VLB HEN ANT yearlings 233: 1/10/16/17/20/29/30/31/32/34 … (17/45)
Hafo Dender old 2039: 10/30/72 … (11/22)
Hafo Dender Yearlings 2561: 32/206 … (14/45)
Hafo Dender o/y 4600: 25/56/83/166 … (26/67)
13/05 Orleans
Club 288 old/yearlings: 3/5/7/10/11/12/15/15/17/20/29/30 … (30/54)
Club 168 yearlings: 4/6/7/9/10/11/16/24 … (17/31)
Association 1053 old/yearlings: 6/9/16/30/32/35/47/47/50/56/86/97 … (36/54)
Hafo Dender old/yearlings 5471: 65/82/106 … (30/59)
Hafo Dender old 2633: 36/52/118 … (13/23)
Hafo Dender Yearlings 2838: 41/104/105 … (17/31)
VLB HEN ANT o/y 558: 3/6/9/13/14/15/19/19/21/25/40/42/45/59 … (34/54)
VLB HEN ANT old 266: 1/2/6/8/18/21/31/33 … (15/23)
VLB HEN ANT yearlings 292: 5/8/9/12/13/15/24 … (19/31)
14/05 Noyon
Club 272 old/yearlings: 2/31/54 … (4/9)
Club 152 yearlings: 1/15/27/29 … (4/9)
VNVB 1052 yearlings: 24/104 … (5/9)
06/05 Toury
Club 272 old/yearlings: 1/4/6/7/8/9/10/13/14/15/16/17/19/21/23/24/26/28/29/30/30/32… (39/59)
Association 1015 o/y: 4/20/28/29/31/38/40/55/56/57/58/61/68/74/78/84/90/93/96/98/98/100 … (39/59)
Club 175 yearlings: 1/3/5/7/8/9/11/14/15/16/17/17/19/23/25/26 … (25/37)
Association 504 yearlings: 4/13/21/28/29/31/36/42/47/50/51/51/53 … (24/37)
VLB HEN ANT o/y 711: 1/7/10/11/12/13/14/23/24/25/26/27/29 … (38/59)
VLB HEN ANT o 382: 4/5/6/7/14/15/16/18/23 … (14/22)
VLB HEN ANT yearlings 329: 1/5/7/10/11/12/14/18/24/25 … (24/37)
Hafo Dender old 1752: 75/76/83/101 … (14/22)
Hafo Dender Yearlings 2384: 10/70/106/137/141 … (23/37)
Hafo Dender o/y 4135: 21/123/162/163 … (35/59)
27/05 Bourges
Club 262 old: 2/6/9/12/13/19/23/33 … (13/18)
FCD 1873 old: 46/85/115/122/131/178 … (11/18)
Prov. 2569 old: 15/47/72/78/85 … (13/18)
Zone 2626 old: 44/84/408/117/127/183/254 … (9/18)
Nat. 21075 old: 257/533/759/808/876 … (9/18)
Club 256 yearlings: 2/4/6/10/16/24/33/37 … (13/26)
FCD 2001 yearlings: 8/10/38/78/126/172 … (14/26)
Prov. 2457 yearlings: 4/6/26/63/101/134 … (15/26)
Zone 2590 yearlings: 5/8/36/73/122/176/229/244 … (13/26)
Nat. 18729 yearlings: 23/39/316/594/939 … (13/26)
27/05 Toury
Club 849 old/yearlings: 2/31/32/52/73 … (7/12)
Club 450 yearlings: 2/20/32/47 … (5/10)
Hafo Dender 3647 o/y: 59/339/342 … (7/12)
Hafo Dender 2178 Yearlings: 29/179 … (5/10)
VLB HEN ANT 560 o/y: 3/20/21/42/56 … (7/12)
VLB HEN ANT 322 old: 11/66 … (2/2)
VLB HEN ANT 238 yearlings: 2/10/23/28 … (5/10)
09/06 Argenton
Club 181 old: 1/8/9/11/23/36 … (9/15)
FCD 1283 old: 42/138/152 … (8/15)
Prov. 1534 old: 15/112/122/173 … (9/15)
Zone 1834 old: 42/164/175 … (6/15)
Nat. 13103 old: 354 … (5/15)
Club 256 yearlings: 2/5/8/15/23/28/31 … (17/26)
FCD 1683 yearlings: 30/82/135 … (15/26)
Prov. 2104 yearlings: 14/52/113/173/266 … (17/26)
Zone 2263 yearlings: 30/86/154/239 … (13/26)
Nat. 17210 yearlings: 311/710/1202 … (13/26)
17/06 Sermaises
Club 410 old/yearlings: 1/11/13/19/21/24/32/49 … (25/55)
Club 242 yearlings: 6/12/14/16/23 … (14/38)
Pajot 1284 o/y: 9/36/46/64/67/73/94 … (25/55)
24/06 Argenton
Club 115 old: 2/5/6/11/15/21/22 … (10/10)
FCD 1064 old: 15/49/58/146 … (7/10)
Prov. 1472 old: 24/78/92 … (8/10)
Zone 1415 old: 22/81/92/192 … (7/10)
Nat. 11295 old: 189/601/694 … (7/10)
Club 274 yearlings: 7/9/10/12/19/42/46/49/50 … (18/32)
FCD 1611 yearlings: 36/41/43/53/90 … (18/32)
Prov. 2216 yearlings: 60/69/71/95/139 … (18/32)
Zone 1892 yearlings: 49/54/56/68/104 … (13/32)
Nat. 15210 yearlings: 446/496/503/620/901 … (13/32)
08/07 Argenton
Club 105 old: 3/4/18/19/23 … (5/10)
FCD 809 old: 96/99 … (2/10)
Prov. 1019 old: 71/72 … (5/10)
Zone 1191 old: 153/155 … (2/10)
Nat. 8777 old: 926/943 … (2/10)
Club 254 yearlings: 2/3/5/7/14/26/27/30 … (14/29)
FCD 1600 yearlings: 60/61/71/82/145 … (11/29)
Prov. 1529 yearlings: 32/33/41/48/89 … (14/29)
Zone 1915 yearlings: 72/73/86/99/179 … (10/29)
Nat. 14174 yearlings: 536/540/622/713 … (11/29)
08/07 Toury
Club 454 old/yearlings: 3/11/22/36/40 … (8/12)
Club 325 yearlings: 6/20 … (3/5)
Hafo Dender 1695 o/y: 60/127/168 … (7/12)
Hafo Dender 1136 Yearlings: 61/117 … (3/5)
VLB HEN ANT 374 o/y: 3/16/21/32 … (7/12)
VLB HEN ANT 122 old: 1/11/20 … (3/7)
VLB HEN ANT 252 yearlings: 8/15 … (3/5)
15/07 Toury
Club 105 old/yearlings: 3/4/5/7/9/13/22/25/26 … (16/47)
Club 57 yearlings: 2/3/4/6/7/10/11 … (13/32)
Association 229 o/y: 11/12/13/17/20/24 … (17/46)
Association 139 Yearlings: 7/8/9/13/14/21/22/28 … (13/32)
Hafo Dender 1099 o/y: 45/47/48/76/92 … (13/46)
Hafo Dender 670 Yearlings: 21/23/24/47 … (13/32)
VLB HEN ANT 225 o/y: 6/7/8/12/16/21 … (11/46)
VLB HEN ANT 100 old: 6 … (3/14)
VLB HEN ANT 125 yearlings: 4/5/6/10/12 … (9/32)
22/07 Chateauroux
Club 60 old: 1/3/6/9/12/14/15/19 … (8/9)
FCD 716 old: 40/93 … (8/9)
Prov. 1041 old: 126/252/341 … (3/9)
Zone 963 old: 38/109/181/234 … (4/9)
Nat. 8075 old: 559/1118/1615 … (3/9)
Club 223 yearlings: 1/2/4/5/6/10/17/18/21 … (16/25)
FCD 1472 yearlings: 7/9/25/31/44/105 … (13/25)
Prov. 1910 yearlings: 49/51/110/114/174 … (9/25)
Zone 1588 yearlings: 10/11/35/39/54 … (10/25)
Nat. 13096 yearlings: 310/315/585/615/836 … (10/25)
22/07 Orleans
Club 248 old/yearlings: 3/9/19/30 … (8/12)
Club 154 yearlings: 3/15 … (5/6)
Interprov. 3862 o/y: 51 … (8/12)
30/07 Bourges
Club 57 old: 2/6/10/11/12 … (6/9)
FCD 577 old: 46 … (5/9)
Prov. 1007 old: 237 … (1/9)
Zone 867 old: 51/147/204 … (1/9)
Nat. 7270 old: 1228 … (1/9)
Club 127 yearlings: 1/2/4/6/15/21/22/25 … (11/23)
FCD 1150 yearlings: 10/11/31/35/104 … (14/23)
Prov. 2004 yearlings: 130/142/216 … (10/23)
Zone 1370 yearlings: 7/8/33/40/117 … (11/23)
Nat. 12094 yearlings: 624/663/992 … (10/23)
13/08 Bourges
Club 276 o/y: 1/11 … (4/7)
FCD 975 o/y: 1/22 … (4/7)
Prov. 1392 o/y: 12/79 … (4/7)
Zone 1081 o/y: 3/22 … (4/7)
Nat. 9922 o/y: 71/507 … (4/7)