The young pigeon season starts in the lofts of Henri at the end of the previous calendar year. Then the breeding pigeons are coupled. Formerly around Christmas nowadays rather because there is a little more time for it. In total, around 40 couples are put together. 24 breeding couples and 16 pairs of female pigeons. The first round of eggs from the breeding couples is moved under the 16 pairs of feeding pigeons. The stock of breeding pigeons is formed by various purchases, but mainly by the top juniors of the past years. Already in the time that Henri still played with his old birds, the best youngsters were moved to the breeding loft immediately after their junior season! This created a class breeding loft with young, energetic pigeons who, shortly before the start of their career as a breeder and as a pilot, demonstrated that they were able to compete with the best. So nothing not faded glory with paper quality, but young vital classrooms that take care of the posterity.

After the eggs have been changed, the next round will be raised by the breeders themselves. As the third round smoothly follows the second and, where possible, the nurse pigeons are used again succeeds Henri to wean a large group of boy in a short time. The aim of this compact group is to make the period of teething problems as short as possible and to be able to throw the groups together as quickly as possible. Every round is housed in a separate department and released separately. For someone with so little time no small task but woman Lucy jumps if necessary.

If the breeding period is done for own use, the most valuable feeder pigeons move to the adjacent aviaries (at the loft). The department for the old pigeons is then drawn at the young pigeon loft. The nest boxes be playing at a later stage an important role in the motivation of the youngsters.

Because the old empty old pigeon loft is made available to the juniors, a young pigeon loft of about 10 meters (estimated) is created. On the left it consists of the old pigeon house with breeding boxes and a second section with other large compartments where the third round spends its first months. On the right side it consists of a classic young pigeon house with many corners and holes where the youngsters can crawl away at will. For this department is also the large aviary. Perhaps it is better to talk about a conservatory or a greenhouse because the large aviary (± 4.0 by ± 2.0 meters) is almost completely closed at two meters centrally at the front. For the rest, the aviary consists of perspex plates and the roof is formed by corrugated sheets. (text Michel Beekman) Read more >>