Brothers de Wit
Again I got a mail from a foreign fancier who had a question about Brothers de Wit.
One asked how good they are, another how much they charge for their birds and 2 people just asked information about them.
Like so often when foreigners ask questions they are out dated.
Henk en Jaap de Wit did have fantastic birds indeed but unfortunately both of them passed away and all the birds were auctioned in 1993.
WHY?
I think I know why people have such an interest in De Wit today,
Verbree, Verkerk, Piet van der Merwe, his nephew Peter and Willem de Bruyn belong to the top fanciers in today's pigeon sport in Holland and most of their basic birds originate from De Wit who lived nearby Verkerk and Willem de Bruyn.
Especially Willem had a very good relation with the 2 brothers and after Henk passed away he nearly had daily contact with Jaap.
The most famous De Wit bird was 'De Reimsdoffer' but it was not their best.
'Reimsdoffer became famous since its children became basic birds in the loft of Verbree and Verkerk.
The 2 brothers built up their family with birds from Klak, some of them direct.
When the birds were auctioned a bird called 'De Chartres' was the most expensive bird. It was purchased by Piet van de Merwe where it became a basic breeder.
Proably the best breeder that his nephew Peter had also came from De Wit.
BARCELONA
Long way back I was at their place shortly after they had won National Barcelona in hard weather,
I managed to buy that winner and I remember how surprised I was to hear that the winner was a pure Klak.
Their loft was located about 3 kilometres from their house and they biked there 3 times per day to take care of the birds.
I also remember how beautiful the birds were but still I friendly turned down the offer to take some babies home with me for free.
That was a big mistake.
In those days I thought that the best birds were to be found in the area in which I live which was kind of stupid indeed I found out later.
Brothers de Wit are one of the many examples of fanciers that never got the credits they deserved.
Unfortunately most foreigners only find out when the fanciers and their birds are out dated but due to the internet they are better informed today.
' Ad Schaerlaeckens
Three times per day they biked to the place where the birds