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Gerard Vanderheide Of Drachten


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Gerard VanderHeide Of Drachten , has kindly decided to join me in a Question and Answer session of which I'm very grateful that Gerard can share his story of flying Barcelona with his Pigeon De Reade . So without giving too much away , here we go , I hope you all enjoy this session :)

 

Here's my first question:

Q How did you get in to pigeon racing when did it all start for you ????

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Gerard VanderHeide Of Drachten , has kindly decided to join me in a Question and Answer session of which I'm very grateful that Gerard can share his story of flying Barcelona with his Pigeon De Reade . So without giving too much away , here we go , I hope you all enjoy this session :)

 

Here's my first question:

Q How did you get in to pigeon racing when did it all start for you ????

 

It started actually when I was a young kid. My granddad had pigeons and I loved being at his loft. Getting older, going school, blabla at 17 I joined the navy for 13 years, after that till now offshore worker. I started racing Barca 3 years ago. My fav cock, just 2 years old, flew the 1340km race in 2011(832 miles 1121.8220yards ). He was basketted this year again, but he never came back. To be honest........I miss him. He's just THAT special bird.

My loft helds about 60 pigeons, most of them 2012 birds (45). The others qualified birds for the extreme long races. Next to that 6 breeding pairs including the parents of the Reade.

 

At the end of the day, once you get into pigeons................. you're poisened with this fever. Never lets you go.Attache dis Vince who won 1st St Vincent 2012.post-29959-13520610411473_thumb.jpg

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When do you expect them to lay , and at what age do you remove the young birds ????

 

After 10-14 days. Yb's are removed when about 36 days. Much more days than common, but that's cuz my wife doesn't want the yb's taken away when they still have "yellow hair" as she calls it. All yb's need to eat and drink themselves, if she hasn't seen that than the yb's will not be removed from the parents. It's a mam's thing I guess.

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what is the base of your family of birds ????? do you think strains are important ????

 

Not sure about that as the peds are manipulated for ages. Software gives anyone a chance to build any ped they want.

I would obtain to have every bird with DNA. Well at least when they costs you more than a 100 grant.

 

But to be honest I bought van der wegen, and some other strains. But not 100% sure if they are real...........hope you get my point.

At the end of the day the basket is your best selector and go from there I would suggest. Build your own strain, have them certified with DNA (only the good ones), keep records of the birds.

 

So, in fact there is no strain, well not a 100% sure strain. There are more bad birds than good birds born every year. It's amazing that some people can get rid of those who are not good enough in their first year.............even the yb's of the best strains. Mine actually stay in my loft no matter what. The birds who don't come back from a race are probably not good enough. But here's another thing.... maybe the fancier was/is not good enough and basket-ted the bird which wasn't in a good condition or whatever............. So may points to discuss. But the fact is there, even the so called best (paper)birds of the best strains can be worthless.

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Has your goal always been to race long distance ?

 

Yes, due to my work offshore I am limited in time. Hopefully this changes when my product is going to run on the market. http://www.pigeontimes.com/indexeng.html.

Besides that I don't like short distance, to many birds in a short time and all prices gone within minutes. I do think long distance birds are easier to handle 2.

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How long did it take to achieve success at Barcelona ? and at what stage did things start to go right ? , what changes did you make that you feel was the deciding factor in achieving a great result ?

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How long did it take to achieve success at Barcelona ? and at what stage did things start to go right ? , what changes did you make that you feel was the deciding factor in achieving a great result ?

 

Actually it just took 3 years to go for Barca.

Check this, its about he ped thing. http://www.pipa.be/en/newsandarticles/reports/dispute-between-vandersanden-ferdi-veltwezelt-be-limbourg-eric-brussegem-be

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Prior to breeding your young birds do you give your breeding stock any special treatment and what feed do you feed your breeders , also what is a must to breed healthy robust young birds ????

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Prior to breeding your young birds do you give your breeding stock any special treatment and what feed do you feed your breeders , also what is a must to breed healthy robust young birds ????

 

Breeders eat what he flyers eat (Matador) during the season. In wintertime I feed the breeders Havens 4 seasons mixed with Matador rest. Both Flyers and breeders have always feed to eat. I believe that animals eat as much they need. I don't believe in hungering the birds as some fanciers do. Young birds need time to grow, so not much races in their 1st year.

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When you wean your young birds to there own loft what preparations do you make for them ???? what feed do you wean them on and at what stage do you lighten there feed or does your feeding remain the same ??

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When you wean your young birds to there own loft what preparations do you make for them ???? what feed do you wean them on and at what stage do you lighten there feed or does your feeding remain the same ??

 

No special preps when the yb's go to their own loft. Food is a bit smaller in size, just for a couple of weeks and then eat the same as the older flyers. At the end of the day pigeons eat what they like..........just as humans. You hear fanciers telling "my birds leave no grain", probably cuz they are starving. Mine leave what they don't like. These leftovers go to the ducks in the park. They just love it.

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Do you treat your young birds for anything once weaned or any vaccinations ????

 

All my birds get the 3 P's vaccination (paramixo, paratyphus and pocks) at least once a year.

I don't do any other treatment unless really really needed. I don't do pre-treatment just "in case".

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At what age would you start to train the young birds and how far ?????

 

Depends a bit on the weather conditions. Like last season the weather was mostly bad, well at the time when I was at home.

But yb's go 200 - 250 km ( 125 - 155 miles)

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