WILLIEM DE BRUIJN

 “THE BEST OF THE BEST”

 

 

 

It was early Saturday morning and I drove to Holland from Belgium to meet my friend Henk Kuijlaars and from there we went to my dear friend Willem de Bruijn. Willem and I have been good friends for many years and I was excited to see him and his birds again.  Willem has introduced some birds from Heremans – Ceusters with great success. But he still goes to Belgium every Sunday in search of top birds to introduce in this family. He believes that Belgium has the best disciplined pigeons. But Holland has the best Allround pigeons

      The National competition “THE BEST OF THE BEST” is organized annually by “het spoor der kampioenen” by many as the toughest competition in the world.

All pigeons that meet the tough requirements for entering this competition are already top pigeons in themselves, in 2010 there were 5 categories. The best scoring fanciers in these 5 categories fought for the title that really counts! Willem de Bruijn from Reeuwijk was the one that won the competition he was the sucessor to Pieter Veenstra who had the honor in 2009.  Willem is now 61 years old and  is a dentist he lives  in Reeuwijk   Holland with his family in a beautiful farmhouse with a large barn, he has a number of spacious lofts with plenty of room and fresh air.  Willem has been the top of the pigeon sport for 25 years.  In 1987 William was already General Champion of the strong c.c. “Gouwe and Ijssel” a year later he was General Champion of the former province C of the NABVP.  In the last 25 years he has achieved a chain of Great Championships,

 

 

   Willem has fans in all 13 compartments in his lofts, the racing team consists of 50 pairs of O.B. and 200 youngsters. They are in 6 lofts 10ft by 10ft every day he cleans the floors but not the perches.  Willem has 30 breeding pairs and 60 feeding pairs.  The old birds race in total widowhood, a racing system which has been raced by practically everybody in the region for years.  The racing pigeons are paired in the middle of December some of them are allowed to produce six eggs, they don’t raise any youngsters. From the beginning of February the pigeons are on widowhood, the cocks exercise everyday during the winter if possible.  From the beginning of March the hens are let out everyday  and are loose in loft together all day, up to the start of the racing season. The cocks and hens are allowed together one day a week, in this way the hens don’t start pairing with each other.  Before the start of the races the pigeons are trained six to ten times on the road, this also teaches them the widowhood system, because the hens are not shown before the races.  The pigeons exercised once a day compulsory for one and a half hours. They are basketted every week, the first separation is the 20 best pigeons go to  the sprint-middle distance races the rest go to 1-day long distance. During the season more sprint-middle distance pigeons join the extreme middle distance toward the end only a few sprint-middle distance pigeons raced. These are the very best pigeons which also shine in the national competitions.  The old bird racing team consists each year of 75% yearlings, the rest consist of two year olds and in the racing team for  2011 we also find six three year olds.  The standard is high for remaining. As an old bird they have to have at least 17 prizes from 24 races or only 1st prizes.  The youngsters are also selected for 90% on their performances. Once in a while a pigeon is allowed to remain because of its exceptional breeding. He trains once a day for both the cocks and hens. The pigeons are fed only once a day.  After training the pigeons are allowed to eat as much as they want for 60 minutes.  the feed consists of no less than 48% corn. He believes that in feeding a high quality  feed and you will get  high quality performance. Three dietary supplements that he uses are Cure oil, Lysocur Forte and Winmix  from Comed. Willem belives in as little medication as possible.

 

    At the end of July eight races before the end of the season, the first selection of the  old  birds takes  place. The old bird racing team is then brought back to 50 pigeons.  After the last race this number is brought back to 25 pigeons. Pigeons which have received exceptional performances are sent to the breeding loft or allowed to remain longer as feeding pigeons.

 

A few good results in 2010:

strombeek  2,925 b. 4,6,8,9,10,15,16,20,24,40,44,45,53 etc,

pommeroeul 3,306 b. 4,7,8,9,11,15,16,17,28,30,37,38,39,etc,

creil 5,815 b. 1,4,5,11,12,22,68,69, etc.

orleans 1,480 b. 5,8,9,14,20,22,27,29,32,33,

orleans 1,092b. 1,3,4,5,6,7,11,14,20,29,30,39,etc,

duffel 1,112b. 5,23,31,32,33,41,

duffel 5,535b. 1,2,4,6,7,8,13,14,15,16,17,18, etc.

duffel 5,031b. 5,7,10,11,12,15,17,21,23,24,25,26,27,.(61 birds in the first 100) pommeroeul pommeroeul 5,995 b. 5,6,7,17,18,25,26,38,54,55,59, etc.

St.Quentin 3,885b. 1,3,11,20,35,37,38,56,60,66,67, 94 etc.

In 2010 Willem also won 1st Ace Pigeon Extreme Middle Distance with “OLYMPIC SCHANULLEKE”, 3rd Ace Pigeon Youngsters with “OLYMIC HURRICANE”, 5th Ace Pigeon Allround with “BABETTE”
National Ace pigeons successes at olympiads etc.

Willem was born with a pigeon in his heart, this passion never leaves him!