The name Derksen v/d Keuken stands, as most fanciers now know, for the extremely sympathetic brothers-in-law Anthony Derksen and Edwin v/d Keuken. In 2014, after coming to live together in the same neighborhood, they joined forces and the combination was born. The pigeon sport was certainly not new to both men, because both Anthony and Edwin grew up at home with the pigeons through their father (Edwin came into contact with the pigeon sport through his neighbor). After the start in 2014, the two brothers-in-law managed to establish themselves at the national top within a few years. The shortest route to success was therefore chosen to build the stock loft. Pigeons were purchased from the crème de la crème of the Dutch pigeon sport. This choice has worked out particularly well because despite the fact that they have only been working together for 6 years, they can already present the following top performances:
Some nice results from the last 2 years:
The combination has 30 breeding couples, housed by Anthony, who he is in charge of. The 48 pairs of racing pigeons are in Edwin’s lofts and here too, Anthony helps in their care. The day starts for Anthony at 6 o'clock with the release of the hens for a training of 1 hour. Then the cocks are released at 7 o'clock, the care of which is completed by Edwin. In the evening this ritual is repeated from 5 o'clock, albeit that it starts with the cocks. The pigeons are raced on total widowhood and are darkened (12 hours a day), and this up to 4 weeks before the first one day long distance race. Both sexes are raced (except for the marathon flights) but the preference is clearly for the one day long distance. In addition, approximately 150 youngsters are bred annually for personal use. Furthermore, Anthony and Edwin have help from Gerben Ekkel with the care of the pigeons.
The Current Toppers
As you may have read above, when Anthony and Edwin decided to race together, they chose the fastest way to success. They did this by knocking on the door of a number of established names. Within a few years this paid off as you can see from the above results. A number of pigeons that made an important contribution to all these successes we put a little more in the spotlight below.
Top couple
NL15-1706779, Son Olympic Solange x NL13-1719175, Olympic Madison
Son Olympic Solange and Olympic Madison are an invaluable breeding couple in the lofts in Almelo.
This Son Olympic Solange comes from two top breeders from G & S Verkerk. Especially Olympic Solange, mother of Son Olympic Solange, appeals to everyone's imagination. She has won NPO races from Argenton and Vierzon, was crowned 1st National Ace Pigeon in the WHZB national competition in 2008, and was Olympiad Pigeon in 2009. It is therefore not surprising that this son has emerged as a top breeder at the Comb. Derksen v/d Kitchen. Mainly paired to the other super, Olympic Madison, where together they produced a whole series of toppers.
Olympic Madison, a jewel in both the racing and breeding loft. She proved her worth in racing as 2nd National Olympiad Pigeon Cat. G Budapest 2015. She won a.o. a competition from Tongeren against 2739 pigeons. She has also left her mark in the breeding loft. She is the dam of another super breeder, Son Olympic Madison (which we will introduce to you below). Together with Son Olympic Solange these two supers are a.o. the parents of:
NL16-1130986, Son Olympic Madison x NL15-1706735, Daughter Eye Catcher
These 2 toppers have also proven their worth in the breeding loft in Almelo for years.
Daugther Eye Catcher is again a direct Verkerk pigeon. She is a daughter of the phenomenon Eye Catcher (Olympic Survivor x Magic Amore) from Gerard and Bas. Together with Son Olympic Madison they are the parents of:
NL17-1699444, Madee
Madee is a daughter of Max who himself won a.o. a 1e NPO Chateaudun (6.844 p) and a 3e NPO Mantes L (2.173 p). Mother of Madee is again Daugther Eye Catcher.
NL4-1524592, Golden Angel
Golden Angel is a daughter of Golden Solange (G&S Verkerk) x Golden Diva (Edwin Hoogland). She was both in the races and now as a breeder of the top category:
NL15-1286947, Maxima
Before she proved her worth as a breeder, Maxima was also a winner in the races. She won no less than 5 times 1st and in 2017 became 1st National Ace Pigeon Allround (Cat. D) and 1st National Ace Pigeon Old Pigeons (Cat. H). Some of her best results are:
NL15-1286915, Olympic Maxwell
Super Olympic Maxwell was in 2017 2nd National Ace Pigeon Allround WHZB/TBOTB. In 2019 he took part in the Olympiad in Poznan and here he became 3rd National Ace Pigeon Allround. Some of his best results are:
NL17-1699472, Maxime
Maxime won this last year 1st National S3 Fay aux Loges against 14.036 pigeons (also the fastest of 22.614 p). Her best prizes are:
NL18-1509619, Mandy
The young talent Mandy has now received 2 preliminary nominations for the Olympiad in 2022, a 4th in the Middle Distance category and a 14th in the Allround category. She owes these nominations to the following performances:
NL18-1509650, Mayra
The last topper we introduce to you here is Mayra. In her pedigree we see again toppers from G&S Verkerk and Edwin Hoogland. She managed to win an Olympic nomination in no less than 4 categories, namely 1st in the cat. One day long distance (1 year), 1st in the category old birds, 14th in the category Middle distance and 4th in the category Allround. Below you can see some of Mayra's top performances:
References
Anthony and Edwin, when they entered into a combination, chose the fastest way to success. The above performances prove that they have succeeded wonderfully in this within a few years. At the basis of all these achievements are a number of top class pigeons from top fanciers. Not only in the lofts in Almelo do they reap the benefits, but they are also successful in other lofts with pigeons from the Comb Derksen v/d Keuken. We therefore end this report with a number of nice references from the last 2 years: