Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor, a district of Brecht, located in Noorderkempen. The landscape is dominated by heath and forests. It was here that Pierre de Casters, as the first Belgian, undertook a test flight with an aircraft. Shortly thereafter, he established the very first airport in Belgium with an accompanying flight school. Today, nothing remains of this airport. However, the pigeons of Peter van Oerle prove that racing is still very much alive.
How it all began
Peter, a crane operator by profession, took his first steps into pigeon racing with his father in 1978. In the early years, the lofts were in Schoten. Sprint and small middle distance were the favorite territories of the father-son combination.
In 1999, Peter's father passed away, which meant he had to continue alone. This happened at the old lofts in Schoten, which was not always easy since Peter himself lived in Merksem. After a while, a new place was sought. This was found in Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor. Only the breeders moved from Schoten to Sint-Job. Peter renovated his current home, which caused the pigeon racing to take a backseat during the first years. In 2014, a true restart was possible.
Lineage Development
After Peter's move in 2006, he brought the breeders from Schoten with him. This base was supplemented with some targeted purchases.
From Johny & Magda Jonckers, he acquired children and grandchildren of the "801". This pigeon itself was the 1st West-European Ace 2012. Children from other icons of this super loft were also brought in.
When one thinks of Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor, they immediately think of the class pigeons of Herman Bevers. Here, children were purchased from the best of this colony. Rudy van Reeth, known for his Pitbull dynasty, was also consulted. But as the saying goes, standing still means going backward, Peter was also satisfied to reach out to Marcel Wouters (Westmalle), Geert de Clercq (Sleidinge), Koen van Wyk (Stabroek), and Eric Samson.
Racing System
The season starts with 24 widowers and approximately 100 young pigeons. The widowers are paired around December 7, just like the breeders. The young from the yearlings go to some friendly pigeon enthusiasts, allowing Peter to have an idea of their breeding value. From mid-February, the widowers are let out and training for the upcoming season can commence. When the weather permits, Peter starts to train from mid-March. He does not take this lightly; after taking them 25 km away for the first time, they are flown another 2 times for 50 km. From then on, they are ready for their first race with the club, namely Quiévrain (115 km). After that, the pigeons are raced every weekend to Noyon until the last Sunday of July. This year, Peter also retained some pigeons at Quiévrain with outstanding results.
The widowers are on the traditional widower system. For the first 5 weeks, the pigeons are taken from the loft without showing a dish or hen. After that, this changes, and sometimes a dish is shown. When the pigeons return home, the hens are always ready and the widowers are allowed to join. The time spent together varies depending on the severity of the flight.
Training is done here twice a day: once in the morning for an hour and in the evening, during which it should be noted that pigeons stay noticeably longer in the air in the evening than in the morning. It is not mandatory training; Peter believes that when a pigeon is healthy, it wants to fly.
The selection at the end of the season is strict; those that wish to stay must have flown 50% per ten. This selection takes place on the Monday after the last flight and marks the end of the racing season for Peter's widowers. In winter, pigeons are not taken outside due to the issues with birds of prey.
The young pigeons start their training with various short flights from 5 km. Here Peter puts in more work than with the older ones. He only proceeds further when the young from the previous distance are home. He personally takes them up to 65 km, after which they can finally join the club for their first trip to Quiévrain (115 km). But never to Quiévrain during the week, as he has had too many bad experiences with it.
Peter does not darken or provide extra light for young pigeons; there is no pressure on them.
Peter: “I don’t care about how the young perform. When their fifth flight feather is lost, they stay home. Very simple.”
The selection of the young is primarily done by hand, focusing on the softness of the feathers and a strong back.
The young pigeons inhabit various lofts with many nooks and boxes. A run for the loft provides the pigeons with oxygen.
The Medical Picture
Annually, Norbert Peeters is visited in February & September for a general check-up and vaccination for Paramyxo/pox. During the season, when Peter sees the pigeons are not at 100% or performing as they should, he does not hesitate to make an appointment with the man in the white coat.
In autumn, a 12-day course for paratyphoid is scheduled, and the pigeons are also vaccinated against it.
Feeding
Trust is placed in Beyers mixtures. Peter particularly appreciates the Galaxy system. From Monday to Wednesday, the pigeons receive the well-known Vandenabeele mixture. From Thursday morning to Friday evening, they are given Galaxy Sport Light in the feeder. When heavier weather is forecasted, half Galaxy Sport Light and half Galaxy Extra Energy are given on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, the pigeons then find Speedymix from Aidi in the feeder.
In terms of quantity, Peter gives a soup spoon per pigeon every morning, and in the evening they receive a full feeder, which is emptied after 20/30 minutes.
As by-products, the brands Röhnfried (Hexenbier, Bt-Amin Forte) and Aidi (Probiotics) are mainly used.
Future
Next year, Peter would like to broaden his horizon and will enter a hen team (12 in total) in the small middle distance. That Peter’s pigeons are capable of this distance is proven by their references at Gert-Jan Kroes.
Achievements of the Last 3 Years
Noyon 1-8-10-12-14-16 (10/18)
Noyon 1-2-3-5-12-15-22-24 (9/16)
Noyon 1-2-3-8-10-19-22 (8/12)
Noyon 1-2-4-5-6-7-13 (9/14)
Noyon 1-4-5-7-10-15-18 (16/20)
Noyon 1-3-5-11-16-17-18 (14/15)
Noyon 1-9-15-16-21-24-25 (10/14)
Noyon 1-4-16-19-32-39 (7/14)
Noyon 1-2-9-10-11-19-21-26 (10/20)
Noyon 1-3-4-9-12-27-28 (11/15)
Noyon 1-2-3 (6/10)
Noyon 1-2-4-7-8-9-12-13 (11/14)
Noyon 1-2-5-13-14-15-16 (13/18)
Noyon 1-3-5-7-10-16-17-24 (8/11)
Noyon 2-4-11-12-18-21-22-23 (8/11)
Noyon 2-4-10-13-22-36-41 (7/11)
Noyon 2-5-7-10-11-17-25-26-28-31-42 (11/17)
Noyon 2-3-7-23-33-39 (11/19)
Noyon 3-4-5-9-17-18-29-45 (8/11)
Noyon 4-5-6-8-9-10-16-25-26-35-48-48 (13/17)
Noyon 7-8-9-10-11-15-17-18-19-23 (10/11)
Noyon 7-11-12-16-18-19-29-33-34 (14/17)
Noyon 7-12-13-15-16-17-18-19-21-27 (16/17)
For the first time in 17 years raced Quiévrain again, with the following results:
Quiévrain 1st (1/4)
Quiévrain 1-15-16 (3/4)
Quiévrain 3-21-22 (3/4)
Quiévrain 3-9-30 (3/4)
Quiévrain 3-39-39 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-12-19 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-8-19 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-40-41 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-18-37 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-20-69 (3/4)
Quiévrain 4-19 (2/4)
Quiévrain 6-13-33 (3/4)
Quiévrain 6-13 (2/4)
Quiévrain 8-15-18 (3/4)
Quiévrain 9-39 (2/4)
Quiévrain 10-36-79 (3/4)
Quiévrain 18-36-41 (3/4)
In 2021:
- 2nd overall champion Noyon old, with also 3rd and 4th ace pigeon
- 1st overall champion Noyon yearlings, also with 1st, 3rd, and 4th ace pigeon
- Successor King Noyon Eendracht Schilde 2021
In 2022:
- 2nd overall champion Noyon old, with 4th ace pigeon
- 2nd overall champion Noyon yearlings, also 3rd, 4th, and 5th ace pigeon
- 3rd overall champion Noyon young, with 2nd and 4th ace pigeon
- King Noyon Eendracht Schilde 2022
In 2023:
- 5th overall champion Noyon old
- 2nd overall champion Noyon yearlings, and 3rd ace pigeon
- 4th overall champion Noyon young, with 2nd and 4th ace pigeon
- Successor King Noyon Eendracht Schilde 2023
- 3rd overall champion old Quiévrain
- 1st overall champion Quiévrain yearlings, and 1st ace pigeon
- Successor King Quiévrain Eendracht Schilde 2023
References
Many succeed with pigeons from Peter, including Frank Andries with 4 times 1st Noyon and King Noyon Aartselaar.
Auke van der Deen (NL) 1st Ace pigeon young.
Uwe Schierloh Bremen (D) 3rd Ace pigeon.
Buys Dennis Brecht (B) 1st Ace pigeon sprint.
Ekramy Dorgham Westmalle (B) includes 20th Nat. Ace pigeon Great Middle Distance 2023 KBDB 4 flights (50% Peter van Oerle)
One pigeon we would like to highlight is Gert-Jan Kroes, racing under the name T & H van 't Ende from Wezep (NL)
BE 2021-6139482 "José"
- 2nd Ace pigeon General Distance club 2021
- TELETEXT Sector 3 Sens
- 1st Sens 724 pigeons
- 5th NPO 3944 pigeons
- 6th NPO National Sector 3 8922 pigeons
- 1st Bierges 1886 pigeons
- 4th Geel 1125 pigeons
BE 2021-6139513 "Maxime"
- 2nd Ace pigeon Speed club 2023
- 6th Ace pigeon General club 2023
- 3rd Quiévrain 1643 pigeons
- 19th Morlincourt 1182 pigeons
- 23rd NPO Saint Aubin 6865 pigeons
BE 2021-6139515 "Queen"
- 2 times TELETEXT
- 4th Menen 2896 pigeons
- 5th NPO Vierzon 1778 pigeons