Jacobs Mathieu, "Champion Grand Distance KBDB (2007)"

Mathieu Jacobs from Essen

Essen :
The last time I visited ‘Tjeu' Jacobs in the far away place Essen was in 1992. He was then Champion Grand Distance in the province of Antwerp. The reason for my visit this time was MUCH bigger. Tjeu became national champion Grand Distance. The national title remains in Antwerp for the third time in a row. In 2005 it was Frans and Paul van Gils who won the title. Last year I was able to congratulate Francois Struyf from Zandvliet with his champion's title. All these fanciers won in the North of the province, but this time the title is for the furthest distance in Belgium. Essen probably lies the furthest north in Belgium. Tjeu Jacobs races Barcelona from nearly 1135 km. It is very strong pigeon that can bridge this distance with success. They are real bruisers that don't shy away from any obstacle. Mathieu has got them all in his loft! He has been racing really well for the last few years so this title didn't just come out of thin air. It has come through years of hard work and especially thanks to….Jaak Nouwen and his Nouwen-Paesen strain.

Stock building
Mathieu has been involved with pigeons all his life. He is now 61 years old and retired. For years he had his own carpenters business. Mathieu's father was a pigeon fancier and even as a small child Tjeu had his own loft for the sprint races. He was one of the champions nearly every year. In 1976, now married, he also began entering the middle distance races. A few years later an older fancier from the same neighbourhood encouraged him to enter a few pigeons for Barcelona. The first nominated (807/76) won the 80th provincially! The following year, 1981, this cock won 1st provincial, 4th national and 16th international from Barcelona. Mathieu had never heard of the ‘Gouden Vleugel' (Bruges Barcelona Club) otherwise it would have won this as well. This ‘Witpen 807/76' proved he was an excellent pigeon the following year. He won the 41st provincial and 657th national. The subsequent year the Grand Distance novice once again triumphed from Barcelona. His‘730/80' (strain Michielsen from Brasschaat) won 2nd provincial, 25th national and 32nd international. This ‘730/80' also classified the following year: 1984 prov. 782p-8, 1985 prov. 985p-75 and 1986 prov. 902p-47th. You can understand that my host was sold on the overnight races and stopped racing the sprint races.

A new Long Distance star was born. The first top pigeons in the overnight races were, in the early years, crossed with other pigeon pedigrees. The pigeons did well in the Grand Distance but the big current-day success came through his friendship with Jaak Nouwen. The first pigeons (14 grain youngsters) were bought here in 1997. The following years pigeons were regularly bought from Nouwen-Paesen. In 2005 he bought another 14, including a son and a daughter from the 1st international Marseille.

The last purchases are a brother and a sister of ‘5176800/02' the Belgian flying wonder with 60-111-142-222 national Barcelona. Tjeu and Nouwen –Paesen regularly cross breed their pigeons. Mathieu has been friends with the well-known Jos Joosen from Brecht for years. They also exchange pigeons or cross breed. The cross-breeding of Joosen X Nouwen-Paesen gives incredible results. ‘An advice for fanciers who have pigeons from one of the above is to pair them with a different pedigree. It made me the champion of Belgium', says Mathieu. Tjeu has been retired for 5 years.
In September 2001 his life hanged in the balance. While working he fell from his ladder and landed on his head. His neighbour saved his life by correctly attending to him until the ambulance arrived. In the hospital they diagnosed a fractured skull. After many days intensive care he was allowed home, but taking care of his pigeons was just not possible. Tjeu wanted to stop with the pigeon sport but a few good friends from the area, such as ,Bevers, Kerstens and Hoppenbrouwers offered to help with the pigeons (feeding, cleaning…). It took until the New Year 2002 before Mathieu could return to his lofts. He has been completely recovered for the last two years and has plenty of time for his pigeons. Everything is done on time which wasn't always the case when he was working. The results over the last few years can be classed as first-rate. This champion's title is the icing on the cake.

This gives a coefficient of 18,876% which is unbelievably low! It must be years since there was such a low coefficient. The competition is respectful of this. Believe me.
The championship was achieved with 5 different pigeons which gives you an idea of the size of the loft. I'll go into more detail about these pigeons:

6474766/02
2005 Barcelona national 12.998p-396 Perpignan national 7.611p-756
2006 Barcelona national 11.802p-429 Perpignan national 6.765p-62
2007 Vierzon prov. 3.523p-694 Barcelona national 12.612p-27 (championship KBDB) Barcelona international 25.716p-123 Barcelona international hens 6807p-51 Perpignan national 5.547p-226 (championship KBDB) Perpignan international 15.087p-648
What a fantastic pigeon this is.
She was the only one who achieved two prizes.
Her father is ‘6280205/96'. He was bred from the ‘Dax 6679050/89', a direct Jos Joosen, X Pau-duivin M. Jacobs. The ‘Dax 050/89' won for Joosen, among other things 2nd national Dax and 44th national San Sebastian and was a grandson of his famous ‘Bonga'. The ‘Pau-duivin 6199034/91' won for Mathieu 4 x from Pau, including 1st national hens, 3rd provincial and 21st national. She was bred from ‘900/85' (son old stock pigeon ‘730/80') x hen from Jos Mees from Kapelle (vd Wegen x his 001/82).
The mother of the ‘766/02' is ‘5074280/97', is a direct from Nouwen-Paesen. It is a direct daughter of their immortal breeding cock ‘Narbonne 399/87' x ‘137/91'(daughter of the 1st nat Barcelona hens 1991). The pure old pedigree Nouwen-Paesen cross breeds easily with other pigeons. The hen ‘766/02' has apparently breeding capacities because her daughter ‘055/05' won in 2006 from St-Vincent 5.409p-125 and in 2007 Pau intern. 7218p-593, national 2.157p-161.

6278114/05
2006 St-Vincent yearlings 4.679p-61
2007 Vierzon prov. 3.523p-401 Barcelona 12.612p-193 (Championship KBDB)
Once again cross breeding from Joosen and Nouwen-Paesen.
The father of this hen is ‘5074179/97' and is a direct Nouwen-Paesen. He was bred there from ‘Snelle 175/89' (stock pigeon 028/85 x 785/80) X ‘734/95'. This hen was the mother of the ‘Kleintje' (including 96th nat. Narbonne, 96 and 49 national Barcelona hens). She was bred from the old stock pigeons Nouwen-Paesen x direct hens from gebr. Kuypers , Neer.
The mother is ‘6496694/95', a direct Jos Joosen. He bred the hen from ‘296/93' (late Barcelona) x ‘501/94( (grand-daughter ‘Bonga')

6474692/02
2005 Pau nat. 2.212p-289 Marseille intern. 13.930p-996
2006 Carcassonne intern. 10.448p-544
2007 Montelimar national 7.873p-1294 Orange national 6.035p-469 Irun national 5.847p-200 (Championship KBDB) Irun international 15.627p-357
The father is ‘6280185/96' , a son of the super hen ‘6346872/89'. She is a stock pigeon by Mathieu with a fantastic record. She won Barca 1991 nat. 11.423p-237, Barca 1992 national 11.300p-314, Barca 1993 national 13.343p-522, Barca 1994 national 11.214p-1197, Barca 1995 national 9.452p-435, Barca 1996 national 10.068p-335, Barca 1997 national 12.731p-84, Barca 1998 national 12.678p-2056. This is 8 (!!) times Barcelona and she was even basketted a ninth time but arrived home a week later. That's when Mathieu stopped entering her for races. In the Primus-Inter-Pares ranking (BBC) she was fifth in 1995, in 1996 3rd and in 1997 2nd. Her father was the ‘831/88' (from 2 pigeons from Jos Mees Kapellen) and her mother was the ‘708/88' ( from the son of the 730/80 x daughter witpen 807/76) from the old stock pigeons from Jacobs.
The mother is the ‘NL2508703/99', a direct Jac van der Wegen. It is the ‘NL2508703/99'. Her father is the ‘Marathon 511/90' (from the ‘NL630/87' grandson Schift x granddaughter Stefan) X ‘Zuster Baron 285/95' ( Staaloger 706/90 , son Kleine Parel, X Knollekopke 498/91, line Ouddoffertje, Prins and Stefan)

6474743/02
2005 Orange: on time, but no result available Marseille nat. 4.398p-619
2006 Bourges nat. 19.061p-1547 Aurillac prov. 555p-138 Albi national 5.063p-426 Carcassonne nat. 3.911p-206 Carcassonne intern. 10.448p-544
2007 Montelimar national 7.873p-1094 Orange national 6.35p-1223 Irun national 5.847p-379 (Championship KBDB) Irun international 15.627p-676
The father of this cock is a son of the ‘5304852/96, a direct Nouwen Paesen. He was bred there from the 218/90 (3 x top from Barcelona) x 108/88 (inbred Dikken).
The mother is a daughter of the ‘Pau-duivin' M Jacobs.

6370202/03
2005 Limoges prov. 1.645p-486
2006 Limoges prov. 833p-155
2007 Vierzon prov. 3.523p-1004 Brive provincial 1259p-43 Cahors provincial 591p-74 Irun provincial 629p-19 Perpignan 666p-2 Perpignan national 5.547p-175 (Championship KBDB) Perpignan international 15.087p-453
This is undoubtedly one of the best pigeons basketted for the Long Distance races in 2007. He sat in the total widowhood loft and this suited him perfectly. As a yearling he had a very early result from Limoges in 2004 (Tjeu doesn't remember the result) and that's why he kept him in the small distance for a number of years. In 2007 he was basketted for the Grand Distance for the first time.
His father, the ‘706/02' comes from the 205/96 x 107/96 (daughter Barcelonaduivin 872/89).This cock was never raced, but kept in the breeding loft.
His mother is the 611/02. She won first prize from St-Vincent 2003 and was then saved for breeding because she is a daughter of the ‘5074280/97', a direct Nouwen-Paesen and a son of the ‘Narbonne'.

Method
During their birth year, the youngsters are only trained. Most of them raced Qieuvrain three times this year. The selecting of the youngsters has been done by Jaak Nouwen-Paesen for years. He gives Mathieu advice about the youngsters and Mathieu follows his advice meticulously. The trust between these two fanciers is enormous and believe me…Jaak knows more than most people! In 2007 Mathieu had 70 widowers, including 30 yearlings. There are also 12 old hens who are raced with a nest and 18 chiefly yearlings in total widowhood. In addition 24 breeding couples guarantee offspring. These include 18 couples Nouwen-Paesen X Jos Joosen. Tjeu has a lot of faith in them. The widows were paired on the 15th of March so that they could start widowhood after brooding for 8 days. The pigeons in total widowhood breed youngsters during the winter and then start total widowhood. The cocks stay in the loft, the hens are moved to the adjoining compartment where there are rollers on the floor, making pairing impossible. They only train in the evening, eat in a passageway in front of the inside loft and then they then return to this rest loft. Mathieu doesn't intend to race total widowhood in 2008. The cocks will be raced in widowhood and the hens with a nest. When racing with a nest the hens are paired in the winter (around Christmas) in order to raise their young. They are then moved to the total widowhood loft. They are trained and also entered for their first races from this loft. They are only in widowhood for a few months. Later they are given a nest for the Grand Distance races. Mathieu finds this system simpler and gives him more fulfilment. In the future all the hens will be raced in this way. When the pigeons return home from the Grand Distance races they are given water with electrolytes. The following day they are given a treatment for trichomoniasis in the water and for the rest a spoonful of Aviol. For the two days before basketting they are given vitamins to drink. All the pigeons are given food and drink in their boxes. All the pigeon food and products are bought from the pigeon business Van Tilburg from Zondereigen, Baarle-Hertog (NL). When they return home and also the following day they are given sport mixture. The other days, up to 5 days before basketting, half diet and half sport mixture. For the last two years Mathieu has given the pigeons a five day cure for paratyphus in March and after the racing season. The vet visits twice a year to inject the old pigeons and the youngsters against paramyxo. Tjeu gives the vet samples but there has never been anything discovered. The fact that all the pigeons stand on wooden roosters could have something to do with it.

Some provincial results from 2007
Brive 1259p: 12-43-47-50-84-162-185-188-200-203-236-232-245-306 (20)
Montelimar 753p: 57-91-116-165 (5)
Cahors 591p: 17-74-121 (6)
Montauban 521p: 34-36-39-167 (6)
Bordeaux 472p: 10-32-45-51-73-96-128 (8)
Irun 14/7 629p: 9-19-66-129 (8)
Irun 21/7 557p: 20-40-82-118 (5)
Narbonne 557p: 29-65-120-132-148 (8)
Perpignan 666p: 2-9 (4)

Publicised championships 2007
1st Champion Grand Distance KBDB
1st Champion Old Grand Distance St-Job King old and yearlings St-Job
1st Champion old Grand Distance Flying club Antwerp