William Geert & Sons
Mr. William Geert was made in 2009, before his death, he had the reputation of the emperor of pigeon racing in Antwerp, Belgium (24,000 members), and was praised for his excellent pigeon quality and salary, the following is a related introduction and interview material in the early years for your reference, I hope it will be useful to everyone.
As a young man, William Geerts turned his pigeon breeding hobby into a profession and soon reached its peak, later becoming a well-known professional pigeon breeder.
In 1975, Gilt lived in the town of Merdown, working as a postman by profession and competing in pigeon racing with his father in his spare time, but only in short-distance racing. Unable to win prize money at local competitions, he turned to Antwerp.
This is an alliance with 24,000 members and high prize money, known as the "Racing School" of the Belgian pigeon kingdom. He was motivated and competed in all the middle distance races.
Today, Geert and his two sons, Sieg and Niki, run the pigeon breeding business together, and with the cooperation of the three, they can be said to be the best middle distance players in Belgium. The Belgian pigeon newspaper counted the middle distance results from 1980 to 1985, showing that Geert overtook other strong players and topped the table.
For Geert, pigeon racing is not all smooth sailing, but full of twists and turns. Pigeon racing as a profession in particular is particularly difficult. However, thanks to his and his son's hard work, they achieved fruitful results: in four Olympic international appraisals such as "Amsterdam", "Tokyo", "Prague" and "Poir", a total of 9 gold medals were won.
In the tasting session of "Pol Bei", Belgium sent three pigeons to compete in the middle distance, and he won all three places. With regard to Belgian pigeons competing for Olympic representation, they must have won a 10% previous prize in the race to be eligible, while a pigeon that has been at the top of every race in two years is likely to be selected to represent Belgium at the Olympics.
Having three pigeons like Geert in the same year being selected for the middle distance is truly amazing.
He is also ahead of the belgian middle distance thrones, finishing 2nd in the fastest middle distance pigeon in Belgium in 1980, 3rd ace pigeon in the middle distance in 1982 and 2nd ace pigeon in 1984. In 1985 there were 9 pigeons in the Antweru League and 20th Ace Pigeon, which were 9 ace pigeons of 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes.
Since 1976 Gilther has maintained top results in the Antwerp League, winning 16 of the league's 24 middle distance races in 1984 alone and 8 in 1985.
The following is a record of Geert's Q&A, from which we can understand its origins and methods of breeding, pigeon hunting, and management.
Q: Where did you get the best breeding pigeons?
A: First I got 24 pigeons from a man named Jacobs, who are of Herremont (a line introduced at the end of the article), and later I got 6 pigeons of Van denBuch and Jensen descent from Wouters in Alentonk, which I bred and bred today's international reputation.
Q: Are your ace pigeons bred in the same breed or crossed?
A: The first five Olympic pigeons were purebred Herremont pigeons, while the last four were hybrids of Herremont and Vandenbug.
Q: How do you judge the quality and grade of pigeons?
A: I can't say what grade a pigeon should be, and if I want to determine the quality of a pigeon, I have to have two years to understand it, otherwise I can't decide.
Q: How do you train young birds?
A: I trained 6 times from 10 km, then 20, 30, 50, 80 and 115 km, and my principle for them is not to let them participate in the race, but just to train them to determine their pedigree. For example, what about the first nest of pigeons?
What about the second and third nests? When the first litter is trained, it is released in groups of about 30 pigeons at a time, and at 80 to 115 km, it is released together with one-tenth of the remaining pigeons.
Q: When did your pigeons who participated in the Olympics and your "ace pigeons" discover their potential? Was it discovered when you were one year old or two years old?
A: All Ace pigeons are not overtrained. They are trained at most 6 times, from 250 to 300 km. Young pigeons, whose strength is not yet understood, are a normal condition for me when the young birds fly well, and there is no exception.
Q: How do you judge a pigeon with your hands?
A: I think a good pigeon has to be stable, have a strong sense of consciousness, have energy and courage. A good pigeon does not look tired, on the contrary it is full of life, has wide pectoral muscles, but can not be too small.
It doesn't matter what the eye color is, what color the eye appears good pigeon. My principle with regard to the eyes is to pay attention only to those who are flexible and sparkling, not dull.
As for the theory of flight, I pay special attention to the character of the pigeons rather than the good looks, which is like women, "pretty is not often the best".
Q: How do you know that your pigeons are at their peak?
A: I love seeing a pigeon that leaves the group and flies back alone, and always (as mentioned above, when training my pigeons, it is always released in groups).
Q: How do you carry out the work of the loft?
A: Cleaning twice a day is a regular task, while disinfection of the loft in February and October is a constant principle. In addition, regular prevention of infections with viruses such as coccidioides, trichomonas, roundworms and protozoal infections is also an important part of my work every year.
Q: What advice do you have for some fanciers who have not won a race?
A: In general, I would recommend that fanciers buy some pigeons from one or two reliable 2 pigeons who have won in the middle to long distances for 5 consecutive years, and then use these pigeons to breed in 2 or 3 years, so that they can win in the race.
Anyone who wants to win must work hard and observe hard: keep the loft healthy and the pigeons healthy in order to excel in a challenging industry.
Further reading: Corneel Horemans (1874-1948) Belgian pigeon and breeder. At the end of the 19th century, he raised pigeons with his brother Jozef and created the Herremont pigeon breed, which is mainly based on the Vich and Petite Buddha pigeons. A few years later it reached the pinnacle of pigeon racing, and after the First and Second World Wars, the relevant newspapers repeatedly reported that "the Herremont pigeon, which is equal to The Vecchi, is the best pigeon".
A good article not to be missed in the near future: some things have to be done by yourself, such as "pigeon hunting"
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