The Desbuquois brothers (Kapelle-op-den-Bos, BE): dyed-in-the-wool Barcelona specialists!

Throughout the year, 365 days in a row, from early morning until late evening, the fanciers from Kapelle-op-den-Bos put their minds to the most prestigious pigeon race in the capital of Catalonia... Barcelona!

Michel & Didier in front of their impressive accommodation

The Desbuquois loft has been one of the leading names in the extreme long distance competition for several decades. Back in the 70s it was father Fernand who managed to impress in the race from Catalonia and nowadays his hardworking sons Michel (46) and Didier (47) are doing the same. The kind brothers run a flourishing business in windows, frames and doors and they are also running a family of great pigeons. These pigeons are trained in their year of birth and they are carefully selected. This is done with only one goal in mind: a national first prize from Barcelona.

The pigeons are thoroughly tested as young birds but they are not yet clocked. The yearlings are trained and raced regularly as well. The yearlings are not clocked either, except for the races from Narbonne and Bordeaux, which are on schedule to prepare for the big classic in the following year. The older birds are only clocked from Barcelona and Perpignan, usually with great success.

Roger Barcelona, first national Barcelona 2006

The two brothers have a vivid memory of their Roger Barcelona (BE03-2010062) winning the first national prize from Barcelona in 2006. It was a dream come true. In addition to this magnificent feat, Michel and Dider have also managed to win 45 national top 100 places from Barcelona (1085km) in the past 25 years, as well as 37 national top 100 places from Perpignan (918km). This is an impressive number and it shows that the two brothers are two grandmasters.

Barcelona: 1st-5th-6th-7th-9th-12th-16th-16th-21st-21st-21st-22nd-25th-25th-28th-35th-37th-37th-39th-42nd-44th-47th-48th-48th-52nd-55th-56th-58th-64th-65th-65th-68th-69th-81st-84th-87th-88th-89th-89th-90th-94th-97th-98th-99th-100th national.

Perpignan: 5th-6th-8th-11th-13th-14th-18th-19th-22nd-24th-26th-27th-28th-38th-38th-49th-55th-56th-65th-65th-69th-75th-76th-76th-77th-78th-79th-79th-84th-85th-87th-88th-89th-92nd-93rd-94th-95th national.

It is amazing to see the effort put in by the two fanciers to shine two weekends a year to try to take a national victory in the races from Barcelona and Perpignan. This means only the best pigeons out there are allowed in the loft in Kapelle. The pigeons of close friend Erik Limbourg seem to fit in their breed very well and the pigeons of Emiel Matterne appeared to be invaluable too. On top of that the joint breeding with the winner of the 8^th national Barcelona 2005 from Rudi Swiggers (Keerbergen) and with pigeons from Danny Viaene (Lichtervelde) proved a great success as well. There have not been many other additions and if they do purchase something new it is often a pigeon with their own origins that returns to Kapelle Op Den Bos. “Good pigeons bred with a well thought out approach; that is what you need. Keeping your lofts tidy does not make you a champion”, says an ambitious Michel.

Julius, first national Barcelona 2011

Julius (08-2142510) has proved that the Desbuquois pigeons are capable of winning a first national Barcelona in other lofts as well. This strong black coloured white flight with soft plumes and a magnificent eye is a 100% Desbuquios bird. A couple of old pigeons of Desbuquois were given to Willy Verbruggen (Londerzeel) and it was this couple that bred Julius. Last season Julius managed to be clocked as first national from Barcelona for Willy, after a flight of 5h02’05”. Meanwhile Julius is back in the loft of Michel and Didier, where he can further develop his qualities as a top class breeder. In fact the 12th and 24th national from Barcelona in 2011 were pigeons with Desbuquois origins as well: both the winners of the 12th and the 24th national prize are grandchildren of Roger Barcelona. The 8th national Perpignan 2011 comes from the bloodline of Roger Barcelona as well.

All pigeons in the loft of Michel and Didier have supple and soft plumes, have a perfect shape and a colourful eye, just like Julius. The youngsters that the two fanciers will be auctioning on PIPA have exactly the same features. All youngsters are descendants of the magnificent Julius (first National Barcelona 2011) and Roger Barcelona (first National Barcelona 2006), which we both described above. What a wealth of talent! This collection includes about ten youngsters and you can actually feel the quality of these pigeons when you take them in the hand. They feel great and they are flawless.

8 July 2013

The 8th of July 2013 is already circled in red in their agenda! They will prepare about 50 racing pigeons who will have to try and match the performance of Roger Barcelona and Julius. Michel says: “When I was 40 we took the national victory from Barcelona and I would really like to repeat this feat in the year of my 50^th birthday!” Given their great passion, their driving ambition and the quality of their Barcelona racers there is a good chance that they can pull it off.