The Noël-Willockx combination was founded in 2013. The two fanciers initially bred pigeons that were then transferred to other lofts to be tested in a number of races. And in 2016 they started racing from their own lofts in Baasrode. From then on, Eddy Noël and Eddy Willockx each started to work their way up. They have effectively become one of the leading names at national level over the course of just four seasons, especially after this year's race from Aurillac...
Have a look and enjoy their incredible result from Aurillac:
National (12 x top 100 national!) 3,584 yearlings: 4-6-11-18-28-50-53-60-83-101-109-126-188-208-382-407-411-468-509-625 (20/27) 3,886 olds: 3-50-71-158-190-262-275-339-402-525 (10/17) Zonal: 1,009 yearlings: 2-3-4-6-10-20-21-24-32-39-41-44-65-71-120-126-128-147-160-186 (20/27) 1,112 olds: 1-12-19-48-57-76-81-103-128-157 (10/17) Provincial: 602 yearlings: 1-2-6-10-13-20-23-26-39-49-51-60-83-87-129-135-137 (17/27) 751 olds: 1-22-28-48-55-68-70-89-105-133 (10/17)
Eddy visits the lofts every single day, to look after his pigeons. He has a long history as a fancier, and some would describe him as a pigeon racing guru. His knowledge on the daily caretaking of pigeons and pigeon feed is pretty much unparalleled.
Ivan on the other hand is responsible for the administrative side of things, and together with Eddy he is working to develop a pigeon breed suited for races of 100 to 800 km. The pieces of the puzzle are clearly falling into place in recent years, and their recent top result from Aurillac is testament to the high level of performance of this young combination.
Racing approach
"We started off with 80 old birds and yearlings that are raced in total widowhood", Eddy explains. "We have about 70 of them left now. A part of the team was basketed for Aurillac, a few others competed in Argenton and the remaining birds will be raced from the nest for the last four nationals", he says.
The breeding loft consists of 40 fixed breeding pairs, and there is room for an additional 10 test pairs. "These ten pairs are used for inbreeding our own breed, and to test potential new crossings with newly introduced pigeons", Eddy explains.
The old birds and yearlings are raced in total widowhood. At the start of the season Eddy and Ivan opted to fully focus on the one day long distance competition. They had a good result in last week's race from Limoges II, and then came their spectacular result from Aurillac last weekend.
Remarkably enough, the hens went on to complete 450-500km races every single week (except for one weekend). "A few of them even completed Limoges I and Cahors. We were a bit more careful with our racing cocks, even though they have already clocked up enough racing miles to successfully race about 4 long distance races in 5 weeks' time", Eddy told us.
Guidance
Eddy Noël has been an avid nutrition expert for years, and he gained quite a bit of experience over the years, both in his own loft and with the help of other advocates of a scientifically-backed nutrition approach. Team Noël-Willockx have now come up with their own mixtures, based on his many years of experience and his extensive knowledge. These mixtures, combined with a number of supplements to make up for nutritional deficiencies (a natural minerals mixture, a fitness boosting tonic, a resistance increasing elixir and 'AIDI Recup Fast', which enhances recovery) closes the circle.
And these are in fact crucially important supplements, because their pigeons have to work hard. "To give you an example: Queen 432, a 1st Prov. Aurillac, has already done 5,462 race kilometres this season", says Eddy. "And they need to keep their energy levels high to do that!"
Provincial winners
This is an experienced combination that capitalizes on every member's strong points. The pigeons' diet and the overall approach is also scientifically backed diet. Add to that a group of top quality birds and you have a recipe for success. The pigeon family from Baasrode has everything it takes.
Queen 432, BE17-6132371
Queen 432 claims the provincial first prize:
1st Prov. Aurillac (692km) 821 old birds – 3rd Nat. Aurillac 3,888 old birds.
This blue coloured hen won the following prizes earlier on:
2nd Nat. Zone Limoges 3,902 old birds & 114th Nat. Limoges 13,592 old birds 27th Noyon 2,265 old birds 291st Prov. Orléans 3,826 old birds
This outstanding racing hen also claimed a 1st Prov. Châteauroux and a 20th Nat. Châteauroux of 4,631 pigeons in 2018. She is clearly a highly talented prize winner, with 2 provincial first prizes and 3 national top results to her name already!
She stems from the '118-Stamdoffer' from her father's side. This is a renowned breeder that bred the following national ace pigeons:
2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB LMD 2018 young birds 3rd Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB Long Distance 2014 yearlings 15th Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB LMD young birds 2013
She is also related to Queen-L from her mother's side, an excellent breeding hen of Jelle Roziers.
Click here for the full pedigree of Queen 432.
The Rocket, BE18-6161138
The fastest hen in the yearlings' race in East Flanders was adequately named 'The Rocket'. She wins a 1st Prov. Aurillac of 686 yearlings. And there were just 3 yearlings faster than her at national level; she was 4th Nat. Aurillac of 3,586 yearlings.
The Rocket claimed a few top results earlier this year as well:
16th Noyon 2,976 yearlings 17th Nat. Zone Limoges 3,402 yearlings & 113th Nat. Limoges 10,699 yearlings
This pigeon is also related to the line of 118-Stamdoffer from his father's side, combined with Queen-L of Jelle Roziers. This makes for quite a successful combination!
The dam is a direct Gaston Van de Wouwer and a full sister of his Maria, 1st Nat. Châteauroux 2018 & 4th Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB LMD 2018.
Click here for The Rocket's pedigree.
Warren, BE18-6161103
Warren, a one year old cock, arrived home in Baasrode just over 4 minutes behind team mate The Rocket, claiming a 2nd Prov. Aurillac 686 yearlings and a 6th Nat. Aurillac of 3,586 yearlings.
He won the following prizes earlier this year:
84th Nat. Argenton 22,826 yearlings 274th Nat. Zone Limoges 3,402 yearlings 333rd Prov. Argenton 4,986 yearlings
He is also related to the successful bloodline of 118-Stamdoffer from his father's side, combined with Jelle Roziers's Queen L. This is no coincidence of course.
The dam on the other hand is a crossing of the Queen L bloodline of Jelle Roziers and New Freddy of Bart Geerinckx and the PIPA Elite Center.
Click here for Warren's pedigree.
Gargenton
One of the leading breeders in the loft of Team Noël-Willockx is Gargenton BE14-6228656, a direct Gaston Van de Wouwer bird. As many as three grandchildren/youngsters have won a national top 100 prize in last weekend's race from Aurillac. To highlight his exceptional breeding potential, we sum up a few of the breeding references of his first and second generation descendants:
14. Nat. Argenton 11,223 p. 17. Nat. Argenton 19,592 p. 28. Nat. Aurillac 3,584 p. 36. Nat. La Souterraine 9,760 p. 49. Nat. Limoges 10,699 p. 53. Nat. Aurillac 3,584 p. 60. Nat. Aurillac 3,584 p. 128. Nat. Chateauroux 24,611 p. 188. Nat. Aurillac 3,584 p. 190. Nat. Aurillac 3,886 p. …
You can tell from Gargenton's pedigree that he is heavily related to the Kaasboer bloodline; the name of this legendary breeder appears three times (!) in Gargenton's pedigree.
Ariën- De Keyser
And we should also mention that the team scored an excellent reference in Aurillac, besides their own top result. We already discussed the excellent result of the Ariën - De Keyser combination in Aurillac in a previous article. And one of the birds in the team of Pascal Ariën was in fact a direct Team Noël-Willockx: racing bird BE-15-6105316 claimed a 4th NAt. Aurillac of 3,888 old birds. It was not the first important result of this direct Team Noël-Willockx descendant for Pascal's loft in Houwaart, as you can tell from his pedigree.
A top quality breed is destined to come to the fore one day, and Team Noël-Willockx did not have to wait long for this to happen. But dominating a race in such a way, after just a few seasons, is not something we see every day. And with so much knowledge and top quality birds under a single roof, it will be just a matter of time before the team from Baasrode delivers another stellar performance!
