Today we are visiting the tandem Jacobs W-J & Zn in Opwijk. The last season was 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 their foundation. As a cherry on the cake, in the last two seasons, father and son Jacobs brought forth 2 nominations for Olympiad pigeon. With “Willem-Jan,” already good for 6th World Best Pigeon middle distance in 2022, and “Blue Saphier,” who won 19th World Best Pigeon Allround this year.
At the Jacobs’ home, the season starts with 56 widowhoods that are played according to the classic widowhood system. The widowers do not partake in winter breeding and only come to the lofts around mid-February. During the winter period, they are kept in spacious pens to ensure the pigeons receive an oxygen cure, while the cleaning work is also limited. In mid-February, they are paired and allowed to breed for about 5 days; afterward, the eggs are taken away and the classic widowhood begins. Training starts in mid-March, and once the pigeons are flying well around the loft, the training flight begins. Diligent work is put into the process, 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 way back, and another advantage is that the pigeons must keep their eyes open better to get home rather than just following the large group. After this period of training flights, they go along for their first race with the club in mid-April.
Since 2020, they also have a loft with racing hens, where about 30 competitors will be residing this upcoming season. Unlike the widowers, these hens do raise a nest in the winter. The racing hens are also played according to the classic widowhood system and are paired together with the first round of breeders. These racing hens then serve as foster pairs, allowing the second round of breeders to closely align with the first round. Once the young ones are raised, training also starts at home for the racing hens, following the same pattern as the widowers. During the races, both the doffers and hens are played every weekend. After all, rust oxidizes. Only in very exceptional cases will this be deviated from.
The season 2023 only started on April 30 (due to weather conditions) with a flight from Noyon. Immediately, the main bird at the club was shot against 337 pigeons with the BE22-2091542 “Blue Saphier.” This doffer had already shown its right qualities as a young pigeon by winning 69th place at Bourges national against 23846 pigeons. But also at Orleans 17/7205, Noyon 9/2056, Noyon 14/543 & Noyon 24/522, it made a mark as a young pigeon.
The second flight on the schedule was Toury the following week. Against 223 pigeons, they started with the entire podium and 9 pigeons per 10, achieving 26 prizes from 67. The 3rd place was taken by BE20-2019154 “Willem-Jan,” the top bird of the loft, who became 6th World Best Pigeon middle distance FCI in season 2022, taking another 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 that became 2nd National Ace Pigeon Heavy Middle Distance young KBDB 2018 in Lebbeke.
The next task on the schedule was Orleans; locally they started with the 3rd prize against 288 pigeons with the doffer BE21-2128049 “Hot Volcano,” achieving 10 pigeons in the first 20 prizes and 30 prizes from 54. “Blue Saphier” dove in as 2nd to the loft and earned a 5th place.
That the form was crescendo could be observed in the results of the following week at Toury. At 1133 m/m, the weather was truly for pigeons, and against 272 pigeons, the following series was set: 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 federation, they started with a 4th prize against 1015 pigeons and 22 of the 59 in the first 100 prizes. The first pigeon to arrive in Opwijk was the BE22-2091583 “New Marcel,” a pigeon derived from a shared breeding 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 on point again, taking the 4th position from 272 pigeons, good for 20th place from 1015 pigeons in the federation.
The tone was set, and “Blue Saphier” went as captain 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 and at 1178 m/m, the first pigeon arrived, the BE22-2091676 “Blue Basso.” Good for a 2nd local place, 4th provincial place, 5th zonal place, and a 23rd national place. A doffer that as a young pigeon had flown only 2 times at Noyon and 1 time at Sermaises and is a half-brother of “Blue Prince,” who a year earlier won, among other things, 2nd provincial Issoudun out of 1126 pigeons and 29th nationally out of 8151 pigeons.
2 minutes later at 1172 m/m, the next pigeon arrived, the 1st nominated “Blue Saphier,” which was good for a 6th provincial place, 8th zonal place, and 39th national place. Again, a top performance from this giant!
Among the old ones, it was the BE21-2128049 “Hot Volcano” that arrived at 14:27 at 1142 m/m, good for a 2nd place locally against 262 pigeons and a 15th provincial place. With 13/18 among the old ones and 15/26 among the yearlings, they could look back proudly on the first real test of the season.
Later it became clear that the train for the rest of the season had departed with various impressive results as a consequence. That these results did not just come out of thin air is evident, and is the result of years of keeping a keen eye out for enhancements, working on the loft, and always having ears open for improvement. And sometimes lady fortune also lends a hand, like the story of the 1st national ace 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 regarding a pigeon that was for sale on the internet. It was decided to lend 4 hens. One of these hens, “Cleopatra,” proved to be a breeding wonder and produced “Jolien” in the first year, a hen that won 1st prize 4 times and various other top prizes. The year after, Remco was born and brought them the title of 1st national ace pigeon Heavy Middle Distance young KBDB 2019.
Since then, pigeons have been exchanged every year with successes for both lofts. In the meantime, we may consider Patrick a very good friend and we try to make each other better. Meanwhile, he plays in combination with Rony Peleman, with whom we have also had a close friendship for years and where we can always turn to for advice. Their first year as a tandem turned out to be a success, including the 3rd national ace pigeon Heavy Middle Distance Young KBDB 2023 with “Shericka,” also again with a bit of bloodline from the tandem in Opwijk. That we are partly responsible for their successes, we are quite proud of. This indicates that not only do our strains of pigeons do well here, but also with others, concludes Jeroen.
In this auction, the combination offers a number of weaned 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 greatest chance of 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 Olympiade 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 Olympiade 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 Olympiade 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
Achievements 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)
Federation 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)
Federation 480 yearlings: 5/41/60 …(14/45)
VLB HEN ANT o/j 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/j 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)
Federation 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/j 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)
Federation 1015 o/j: 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)
Federation 504 yearlings: 4/13/21/28/29/31/36/42/47/50/51/51/53 …(24/37)
VLB HEN ANT o/j 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/j 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/j: 59/339/342 … (7/12)
Hafo Dender 2178 yearlings: 29/179 … (5/10)
VLB HEN ANT 560 o/j: 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/j: 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/j: 60/127/168 …(7/12)
Hafo Dender 1136 Yearlings: 61/117 … (3/5)
VLB HEN ANT 374 o/j: 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)
Federation 229 o/j: 11/12/13/17/20/24 …(17/46)
Federation 139 Yearlings: 7/8/9/13/14/21/22/28 …(13/32)
Hafo Dender 1099 o/j: 45/47/48/76/92 …(13/46)
Hafo Dender 670 Yearlings: 21/23/24/47 …(13/32)
VLB HEN ANT 225 o/j: 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/j: 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/j: 1/11 … (4/7)
FCD 975 o/j: 1/22 …(4/7)
Prov. 1392 o/j: 12/79 …(4/7)
Zone 1081 o/j: 3/22 …(4/7)
Nat. 9922 o/j: 71/507 …(4/7)