The power of coincidence (18 april)
Little things may have big consequences. This may be in a negative sense (at the wrong time at the wrong place) but apparently trivial things may bring good luck as well. That one egg that was broken or not broken or that one pigeon that hit or did not hit a wire may make all the difference between eternal fame and ‘never heard about’.
PAULIEN
Take "Paulien" from Derwa, one of the best pigeons of this century, both as a racer and a breeder. Albert owed this miraculous bird to the forgetfulness of a fellow fancier. One should know that back in 2006 he had promised to breed a round of babies for his friend Paul Huls. Paul however ‘forgot’ to pick up the babies. Derwa found it a shame to eliminate them. Among them was "Paulien", the bird that made him famous.
GEELOGER
A sensational bird in the Netherlands was "Geeloger" from Koen Minderhoud. It won 4 provincial races against average over 3,000 birds in one year. Minderhoud bred it from a daughter of Paulien. So he too owed his fabulous racer to forgetful Paul Huls. But that is not it. Understandably ‘Geeloger’ also has a father. Koen calls him "Gebroken Vleugel" (‘Broken Wing’). You should know that some years ago a hawk fell on the roof of his loft. Filled with panic his pigeons flew away in all directions and one was so unlucky as to hit a wall. The result was a broken wing and Koen had no other choice than to put him in the stock loft. There it became father of ‘Geeloger". While other pigeons are killed by the hawk, Geeloger thanks its life to a hawk.
KANNIBAAL
Talking about exceptional pigeons, what to think about ‘Kannibaal’ from Dirk van Dijck? Would there ever have been a bird with so many aces amongst its descendants? Also ‘Kannibaal’ owes his life to a coincidence. One should know that Dirk lost a super sprinter long way back. He was upset. Everybody who loses a super knows how much that hurts. Another cock took the position of the bird that got lost and took its hen as well. They became parents of ‘Kannibaal’.
613
The best racer Klak had in the 90-ies was his 613. He called its father ‘Knook’, which means ‘ugly one’. I handled this ‘Knook’ many times and I must admit, there was nothing good to say about this bird. Apparently others thought the same. You must know ‘Knook’ was a summerbreed and summer breeds were always sold. But when clients saw this bird they begged Klak if it was ok for him if they did not take this bird. Jos was an easy going person but the result was that he was stuck up with a pigeon that he nor others wanted. It descended from Janssen Bros icons such as Geeloger, Raketman and Oude Witoger but that was not relevant for Klak. In the winter that followed Klak had bad luck. The hawk had caught one of his cocks, and now he was short of a male. He decided not remove a hen, but keep that ugly cock. It became father of his ‘613’. He let the parents of ‘613’ together for several more years but they never gave another decent racer.
GEERINCKX
A basic hen in the Geerinckxloft is a bird from Keirsmaekers. Did Geerinckx buy it to improve his family? Hmm. Not really. One should know this Keirsmaekers once had an auction that completely failed. For some birds there not even bids. Luc Geerinckx was also there. He felt sorry for Keirsmaekers and for the birds. He took a hen home with him. It would breed him one super after another.
JUUL VAN LOOVEREN
In 2015 Belgian Juul van Looveren did not mate his breeders but let the pigeons themselves pick a partner. The result was a NATIONAL ACE. The best bird of ALL BELGIUM at Middle Distance.
049 OR 050?
It was back in 2000 that Bas Verkerk, the one and only, wanted to buy some birds from me. When he was at my place I had two nest brothers in the basket, 049 and 050, two lookalikes. You could not tell them apart. I let Bas pick out one, his choice was 049. It became father of several supers, amongst others his famous ‘Sprint’ that won 1st National Chateauroux in hard weather and 2nd from Peronne against 20.806 birds. One descendant of Sprint is "Bolt" from Heremans, the bird that was sold for 310,000 euro. Bas named 049 ‘Alessandro’. ‘050’, the bird that he did not take, I kept for myself. It was in my stockloft for 3 years and in the fourth year I let W de Bruijn use it. None of its babies was any good.
BUBBELS
Verkerk got another bird from me, one of his best breeders ever. The name is Bubbels, a daughter of my Wounded Knee. The father I got from Belgian Verstichelt. I went there with a friend who bought a bunch of babies from him. In the loft I saw a nice baby, 4 weeks old. I asked if I could buy it. I could not. I got it for free, it was my commission. From the Semi National race from Ruffec in 2016 Verkerk won the first 5 prizes. They were all descendants of Bubbels.
HOME ALONE
My ‘Home Alone’ was a phenomenon both as a racer and a breeder. Among its descendants are NATIONAL Aces and NATIONAL winners. Its father, Ace Four, became 1st Provincial Ace before his nest sister 144 with over 11,000 birds in competition average. Ace Four is sometimes described as one of the best breeders ever. The father of 145 and 144 was ’95-295’ and again there is a little story. You should know that back in 1995 H v Helmond had bought a voucher from me. In those days I had a very good breeding pair (Mattens x Sissi) and when he came for the bird for his voucher I had 2 babies off that pair ready, 296 and 295. I let van Helmond choose. He looked at the birds, he did not notice any difference and then said: ‘It is all the same to me.’ I gave him the most beautiful, ‘296’, and could not know then how lucky I was. Its nest mate was to become the father of ‘Ace Four’ (96-5660145). In Belgium alone the following birds are among its off-spring:
-"Anita" van Vanlint (1st Nationaal and Olympiade bird).
-1st National Argenton P Rubens.
-1st National La Souterraine B van Oeckel.
-1st National Argenton Jespers v d Wegen.
-1st National Ace and 1st Olympiad bird M Wouters (‘Den Ad’).
-‘Fleur’, the miracle breeder from Jespers v d Wegen.
- And so on.
Home Alone
The bird that van Helmond got for his voucher, would produce a National winner as well.
BREEDING PAIRS?
So dear fellow fancier: Welcome in the world of connoisseurs that will tell you how to mate your pigeons. The examples that are shown above prove again how important good luck is. And everybody knows that, that is why we all breed so many babies. No serious fancier wants to depend on some breeding pairs, not to speak about ‘Golden Couples.’ And always remember:
The breeding pair does not make the champion bird but the champion bird makes the breeding pair. That means….. what fanciers would call a ‘breeding pair’
This WAS a breeding pair indeed