Peter voor een gedeelte van zijn hokken
2013 was yet another splendid season for the 46 year old Peter Theunis (Hoeven, NL). He is a fancier with international acclaim who achieves excellent results in races of up to 700km season after season. His young birds’ team has been performing outstandingly well in the NPO competition as well. Peter has an eye for perfection and he is a man with an opinion. For instance, he composed his own mixture called Championsmix, which consists of 32 different types of seeds and few peas. He also has his own ideas about the use of supplements, which he thinks makes the sport needlessly expensive and which does not have any significant benefits. In addition to his Championsmix the pigeons also get a small portion of various types of seeds and that is that. During the one day long distance season, there is a mixture of cheese, peanuts and sheep fat as well. Medical guidance is also kept to a minimum: there are no treatments for a single day in the basket but for a race with two days in the basket some BS or Belgica De Weerd is provided against ornithosis. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated season after season with outstanding results and championship titles but Peter does not really care for these championships. He is focused on gaining excellent results in the NPO and national races. We take a look at some of his best results of 2013 in CC Westhoek (110 members):
Sens 385 km 894 p. 3-11-12-13-20-21-22-28-etc. (20/43) La Souteraine 635 km 564 p. 1-11-18-22-45-58-etc. (10/28) Pommeroeul 137 km 1,516 p. 4-5-29-33-46-48-58-61-etc. (20/51) Pommeroeul 137 km 1,552 p. 2-16-17-18-32-36-39-42-43-47-52-53-etc. (22/42) Orleans 447 km 729 p. 1-15-17-18-etc. (15/32) Nijvel 110 km 1,490 p. 8-29-39-42-43-44-63-etc. (26/49) Peronne 216 km 1,966 p. 3-18-21-52-53-54-etc. (29/45) Meaux 315 km 1,058 p. 4-13-17-18-21-23-38-41-42-43-etc. (16/48) Mourlincourt 248 km 1,333 p. 11-19-23-45-47-58-61-etc. (22/47) Pommeroeul 137 km 1,231 p. 3-17-19-26-36-50-56-63-etc. (21/44) Bourges 521 km 687 p. 6-9-15-16-28-32-51-57-etc. (18/24) Pommeroeul 127 km 764 p. 1-2-10-11-12-13-15-17-20-22-23-26-27-31-32-44-etc. (27/37) Mourlincourt 248 km 1,199 p. 4-5-6-13-31-33-48-62-etc. (19/33) Chateauroux 567 km 1,602 p. 4-7-22-34-44-51-etc. (14/27)
It goes without saying that these achievements have resulted in a number of championship titles as well. We could not include all championship titles but we give you an overview of the most important titles of 2013:
CC Westhoek (110 members)
3rd Ace Pigeon sprint old birds 4th Loft overall sprint olds 7th Loft overall middle distance olds 3rd Loft overall one day long distance olds 1st Loft overall sprint young birds 2nd Loft overall long distance young birds 3rd, 6th, 7th Ace Pigeon young birds long distance 3rd General overall
Long distance union (approx. 500 members)
5th Ace Pigeon long distance young birds 3rd Loft champion long distance young birds 1st 4 first clocked pigeons 2nd 3 of the first 5
District Brabant 2000 (1900 members)
2nd Loft champion 2nd Golden district champion FZN olds and young birds one day long distance
National competition WHZB
5th Ace Pigeon young birds
Peter has won a total of four first prizes in CC Westhoek and 24 first prizes in his union.
Rocketeer (NL06-0742659)
It takes a really strong pigeon breed to achieve such impressive results and that is the least you can say about Peter’s pigeon collection. One of the big names in his collection is without doubt Rocketeer, a truly outstanding breeding pigeon. No less than 39 of his youngsters and grandchildren have finished in the national or NPO top 100 already.
This pigeon is the sire and grandfather of the following champions:
Gold Spice Girl (NL09-3917763)
Blue Rocket (NL10-3016846)
Cannonball (NL08-3817583)
Shinji Star (NL12-3220127)
Golden Cannon (NL12-3220128)
The lofts of Peter are home to an excellent pigeon family that has proved over the years to have all the qualities of a top quality breed. Peter adds a carefully selected youngster from another top class pigeon to his collection just once in a while, which he then pairs to the very best pigeons of his own breed. These reinforcements include an outstanding hen of Van Hove-Uytterhoeven (Putte, BE), a remarkably talented (Beaty Queen) pigeon of Jelle Roziers (Bevel, BE) and a first class cock (Young Rossi) of Leo Heremans (Vorselaar, BE). He has also achieved great results with pigeons of Johnny Jonckers (Drieslinter, BE), which he obtained directly from him and through an exchange with his good friend Peter van Oerle (Schoten, BE). Perfect Sunrise is a good example of a successful crossing this season: this young hen was ranked as fifth best young birds in the national WHZB competition with to the following results:
Nivelles 8th of 1,903 pigeons Pommeroeul 4th of 1,516 pigeons Meaux 4th of 1,058 pigeons Sens 11th of 894 pigeons Pommeroeul 11th of 764 pigeons
Peter and his wife run a strawberry farm together, which has 30 employees in peak season. This means they have a busy schedule from February to September, with an 80-hour work weeks in the summer being no exception. On top of that, he has to take care of his pigeons every day. Someone who performs at such a high level in such conditions is without doubt a top class fancier with a top class pigeon collection.