The fancier
Jan Eskes runs a transport company together with his wife, where his two sons are employed as well. He takes care of the pigeons on his own; Adrie Van Rhee (Alblasserdam, NL) gives advice throughout the season. Jan has a 19 metre long loft divided into 10 compartments. The young birds are housed in four compartments of two by two metres and the loft houses 32 pairs of racing birds and 16 breeding pairs as well. Jan also trains hunting dogs in his free time and these two hobbies allow him to take his mind off his company once in a while.
Jan is a fancier with a proven record, with several top results, including a 1st national Bergerac, a 1st national Châteauroux and a 1st national Troyes on his list of achievements. In 2012 his pigeon Leon NL12-1655965 won the title of Best Young Bird in both the Wie Heeft Ze Beter (WHZB) and the The Best Of The Best (TBOTB) competitions. Besides, he achieves high prize percentages and top results every weekend.
Jan in front of his loft
The Heremans pigeons
Fellow fancier Peter van St. Maartensdijk introduced Jan to top class fancier Leo Heremans a few years ago. They got along very well and one day Jan paid him a visit together with his advisor Adrie Van Rhee. They now have 34 direct pigeons from Leo Heremans, purchased as young birds or as eggs. Jan obtained pigeons of exceptional quality, which shows that the two fanciers have become close friends. These pigeons were obtained in 2011 and they were very successful right from the start. If 10 of Jan’s pigeons arrive home from a young bird race, at least six of them would originate from the Heremans breed. In fact, the dam of Leon (NL11-1781324) was obtained as one of the Heremans eggs. It is obvious that the introduction of Leo Heremans pigeons has allowed Jan to take his loft to another level and he is very grateful for Leo’s help.
NL12-1655965 Leon, 1st WHZB and 1st TBOTB 2012
Leon is a very strong cock from the third round of 2012. His dam was a summer youngster that was paired for the first time. It soon proved an excellent combination. The sire of Leon is NL07-1863853 Zoon Dee Jee, winner of, for instance:
116th Pommeroeul 2,674 pigeons 180th Pommeroeul 4,097 pigeons 115th Creil 3,822 pigeons 140th Peronne 2,146 pigeons 101st Strombeek 3,076 pigeons
Zoon Dee Jee was also the sire of the 10th best young bird 2011 WHZB after winning the following prizes:
1st Chantilly 12,768 pigeons 1st Albis 2,081 pigeons 4th Pommeroeul 3,915 pigeons 11th Menen 2,950 pigeons 3rd Pommeroeul 500 pigeons
Leon originates from Saffier and Dubbel Aske of Leo Heremans from his mother’s side. This is a top class pigeon bred from previous champions. He has won the title of Best Young Bird WHZB and TBOTB thanks to the following results:
1st Peronne 2,990 pigeons 1st Duffel 1,861 pigeons 2nd Grimbergen 1,794 pigeons 10th Morlincourt 2,736 pigeons 10th Peronne 1,458 pigeons 24th Sens 983 pigeons 24th Nijvel 311 pigeons 35th Nijvel 3,209 pigeons
Click here for the pedigree of Leon.
The results of 2013
Jan obviously has more than just one excellent racing pigeon in his loft, which you can tell from his results in the Entente of South Holland East in district 5:
Ronquieres 3,788 p. 150 km 4-5-16-17-18-24-29-30-etc. (44/64) Nivelles 1,240 p. 149 km 1-6-7-10-14-15-16-20-etc. 32/46) Sens 1,051 p. 425 km 3-5-8-13-18-20-24-etc. (21/30) Duffel 2,479 p. 92 km 2-3-10-21-23-24-25-etc. (50/93) Nivelles 2,292 p. 149 km 1-4-6-8-10-17-21-27-etc. (55/94) Pommeroeul 2,015 p. 176 km 3-8-9-10-13-14-15-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-etc. (57/94) Peronne 1,933 p. 254 km 2-4-5-10-13-17-21-22-23-etc. (58/95) Mantes-la-Jolie 1,379 p. 388 km 3-4-7-10-11-12-13-15-16-20-etc. (41/93) Pommeroeul 1,925 p. 176 km 1-2-18-19-23-26-28-29-etc. (26/30) Peronne 1,792 p. 254 km 1-2-4-8-9-10-12-17-18-19-21-22-23-etc. (61/109)
To conclude
We have paid a visit to an excellent fancier. He would like to spend more time in his loft but he has to invest a lot of time in running his company as well. Despite his lack of time, Jan has been able to breed a group of pigeons that are tough to beat. He has won impressive championship titles and national ace pigeons, partly thanks to the recent introduction of Leo Heremans pigeons. At the moment his best pigeon is Leon, which is named after grandmaster Leo. We tend to believe that this has not been our last visit to Jan Eskes.
Jan in his loft