He is a businessman by day who likes to spend his spare time in his pigeon loft. That sums up the lift of Dirk Deroose (CEO of Willy Naessens Group). Pigeon racing is a passion of his, and his favourite pastime. It helps him relax after a stressful day of work. He has been working hard to become a successful pigeon fancier, and he has obtained some talented pigeons in order to raise his breed's level of performance.
His weekends are all about the excitement of watching his pigeons arrive home from the national races. This is enjoyment and excitement at the same time, as he reaps the rewards of his hard work, his approach and his investments.
The most important part of your house is its foundation. Dirk knows what he talks about, as the CEO of an industrial building company. The same principle applies to his pigeon family: he wanted his pigeon breed to be founded on a solid foundation which he could then further develop. And he is in excellent company, with such talented breeding birds as Picsou, Niels, Andre and New Freddy. He was bound to get some great results sooner or later, and so he did: he claimed two national first prizes (Bourges II in 2013 and Chateauroux I in 2017) and a few national ace pigeons as well.
Picsou: stock breeder for Dirk Deroose
Combining the bloodlines of Niels, Andre and New Freddy
These are the three pillars of the Dirk Deroose pigeon breed at the moment; they enabled Dirk to get some consistency in his breeding strategy. This team's succes story was sparked by stock breeder Picsou BE06-4378467, a direct Chris Hebberecht. He is a son of Costello, a full brother of Hebberecht's own invaluable stock breeder Champion (click here for Picsou's full pedigree). Picsou's impressive breeding potential put Dirk Deroose on the right track, as you can tell from his palmares. Picsou is:
- 2015: grandfather of 7th Nat. Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB with Mathias (click here for Mathias's pedigree) - 2016: sire of 8th Nat. Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB with Quatro 3 (click here for the pedigree of Quatro 3) - 2017: grandfather of 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance & Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB with Zoom
Picsou is also the sire of a 76th Nat. Jarnac of 5,134 pigeons in 2017. Any pigeon with such breeding references can be rightfully considered a super class breeder. And his son Niels (click here for his pedigree) has what it takes to follow in his footsteps, especially when combined with the bloodlines of breeding birds Andre and New Freddy. This is an excellent combination, as you can tell from the two most successful racing birds of 2017 (Zoom and Marcel), which are closely related.
Niels was paired to Lady New Freddy 095/13 when he bred Zoom, the 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance & Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB. Meanwhile, racing bird Marcel took a national win from Chateauroux I, as a direct son of top breeder Andre paired to Lady Niels. This hen is a daughter of Niels, which was paired to New Freddy 945/12, and she is in turn a full sister of Lady New Freddy 095/13.
We take a closer look at the team's two most successful pigeons this season:
Niels x Lady New Freddy: the parents of Zoom, 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance & Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB
-Zoom BE16-4153057
2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance & Extreme Long Distance YLs KBDB 2017 7th Nat. Limoges II 10,554 p. ’17 32nd Nat. Tulle 9,578 p. ’17
Sire: Niels BE11-4234385
Winner of a 1st Nat. Zone Argenton 8,476 p. and 6th Nat. Argenton 22,837 p., 2nd Prov. Vierzon 2,738 p. etc. He is a direct son of the stock sire of Dirk Deroose, Picsou BE06-4378467, a direct Chris Hebberecht (from Costello, full brother of Champion) x La Française BE05-612303 (a full sister of Mr Bergerac, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance France).
Dam: Lady New Freddy BE13-4039095
A daughter from a joint breeding with the golden stock breeder of Nikolaas Gyselbrecht's PEC: New Freddy BE09-5052387 (1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Longer Middle Distance KBDB 2010 for Pierre Matthijs) x Piece of Gold BE10-5020548, a direct Pros Roosen (from inbred to Superkweker Freddy ’91 of De Rauw-Sablon, before moving to Pros Roosen). Piece of Gold is also the dam of BE13-4039095, winner of a 1st Nat. Zone Bourges 1,391 p., 24th Nat. Bourges 10,141 p., 46th Nat. Montluçon 11,056 p., and 19th Nat. Zone Chateauroux 2,797 p.
Click here for Zoom's full pedigree
The national victory from Chateauroux I with Marcel is a new highlight in Dirk Deroose's pigeon racing career. This talented bird has managed to win a national top prize in three consecutive seasons, each time in completely different weather conditions. This is a top class bird indeed!
Winner of a 1st Nat. Chateauroux I of 20,487 olds: crack Marcel
-Marcel BE15-4073372
1st Nat Chateauroux I 20,487 p. ’17 9th Nat Chateauroux III 17,250 p. ’15 44th Nat Brive 5,929 p. ’16 187th Prov Vierzon 7,056 p. ’17 Etc…
Sire: Andre BE07-4145554
He comes from Andre Van Herzele. An excellent breeder, and the sire of:
1st Nat Chateauroux 20,487 p. 1st Nat Argenton 19,757 p. 5th Nat Chateauroux 4,386 p. 6th Nat Tulle 9,578 p. 9th Nat Chateauroux 17,250 p. 21st Nat Jarnac 3,741 p. 37th Nat Chateauroux 26,695 p. 44th Nat Brive 5,929 p. 47th Nat La Souterraine 9,760 p. 55th Nat Chateauroux 22,718 p. 56th Nat Brive 5,929 p. 93th Nat Agen 2,767 p.
Dam: Lady Niels BE12-4089425
An excellent breeding hen from the new stock breeder Niels BE11-4234365 x New Freddy 945 BE12-4216945. This breeding dam is a daughter of New Freddy BE09-5052387 (1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Longer Middle Distance) x Piece of Gold BE10-5020548 (a Pros Roosen inbred to Superkweker Freddy De Rauw-Sablon). In other words, New Freddy 945 is a full sister of Lady New Freddy, the dam of Zoom.
Click here for the full pedigree of Marcel.
Andre x Lady Niels: the parents of Marcel, 1st Nat. Chateauroux
Marcel is also the half brother of Matisse 558/09, winner of a 1st Nat. Argenton of 19,757 pigeons for Andre Van Herzeele, the fancier which Dirk Deroose also obtained the sire of his fresh national winner from.
In 2017 Marcel also the full brother of:
5th Nat. Chateauroux III 4,389 p./ 1st Nat. Zone (with BE16-4153149) 37th Nat. Chateauroux I 26,695 p. (with BE16-4153061)
And a half brother of:
6th Nat Tulle 9,578 p. (with BE16-4153169)
This half brother of Marcel comes from the same sire: Andre x Aanhankelijke BE12-4216976 (a full sister of Niels). And this brings us back to the two fundamental bloodlines that helped define the Dirk Deroose pigeon breed.
Fond of true winners and ace pigeons
Dirk Deroose always wants to move forward, not just in his professional career but also in pigeon racing. You have to try and gain an advantage on your opponents, and try to maintain that advantage. Otherwise you risk being left behind. Dirk quickly discovered that breeding youngsters from his prize winners and ace pigeons is the key to success. It enabled him to claim victories, even at national level, as well as win a number of national ace pigeon titles.
His own breed, developed around Picsou and his son Niels, Andre, and New Freddy have provided him with a solid breeding foundation. These are now being crossed with 1st National winners and 1st National Ace Pigeons KBDB, which he recently invested in (together with some friends). He is now reaping the rewards of those investments: his results are excellent, and the team of Dirk Deroose is doing really well. He is now working towards achieving his ambitions at national level. This is the start of a successs story, and we are eagerly awaiting the next chapter. To be continued.