Elzinga Combination (Harkema, NL) have a top class breed over multiple generations with Esmee, Mr. Sky, Sven and many other champions

Esmee, Mr. Sky and many other top class racing birds have shown their true colors in the lofts of the Elzinga Combination and in the lofts of numerous other fanciers as well. These pigeons were very successful racing birds and their youngsters and grandchildren have shown to be just as talented, as you can tell from the many first prizes in the province and in the NPO competition.

Tjeerd and Jouke Elzinga

The Elzinga combination consists of the 59 year old Tjeerd, who works as a carpenter, and his 30 year old son Jouke, who is self employed. This is a highly respected combination in the Friesland region; the two fanciers have been very successful in the one day long distance and the young birds' races, their favourite two competitions. Over the years they managed to create a high quality pigeon breed capable of achieving great results. Tjeerd and Jouke try to get most of the work done together, which basically means that Tjeerd runs the lofts during the day; Jouke joins him in the afternoon. Their entire racing team consists of 24 pairs raced in total widowhood. They also have 14 breeding pairs and they breed 80 youngsters every year to be used in the racing loft. The Elzinga breed is mainly based around their own Blue Hope bloodline. Breeding cock Blue Hope can be found in many a pedigree here. They also introduced pigeons of Pieter Veenstra, which were obtained either directly or through the Fokkinga combination. The pigeons of Gerard Koopman have played a defining role as well, and Tjeerd and Jouke were also involved in a joint breeding with Jan Hooymans (Harry x Esmee). They have been particularly satisfied with this combination. We would like to take a closer look at the pigeons that are mainly responsible for their recent successes.

NL07-1128113 Blue Hope

Blue Hope was the first pigeon that enabled team Elzinga to really step up their game. This pigeon won a 4th NPO La Ferte but he was particularly valuable as a breeder: his youngsters and grandchildren have won a 1st Arnhem, a 1st Gennep, a 1st Chislain, a 1st Boxtel (7,423 p.) and 2nd Boxtel (614 p.), a 2nd Hoensbeek 360 p., a 1st Hank 2,303 p., a 1st Minderhout (3,240 p.) and a 1st Charleville (1,313 p.). You can find the full pedigree of Blue Hope here. It is no surprise that a large part of their current generation of racing birds is heavily based on this Blue Hope.

NL10-1031410 De Sven

De Sven is another very important pigeon in the Elzinga pigeon breed; his most important achievements include:

4th Int. Chateauroux NU 776 km. 2,906 p.
6th Int. Sens NU        590 km. 6,036 p.
9th NPO  Chateauroux    776 km. 3,534 p.

He won the title of 2nd International ace pigeon one day long distance NU (2013), 5th National ace pigeon one day long distance fondspiegel ('11, '12 and '13) and 6th Ace Pigeon one day long distance province 11. The sire of De Sven comes from the breed of Gerard Koopman (Ermerveen, NL), and he is a full brother of Dylan, winner of a 1st NPO Orleans 9,670 pigeons. The dam of Sven is Lady Gaga, which is a 100% Koopman as well. Lady Gaga was never basketed for races but she proved irreplaceable in the breeding loft. You can find the pedigree of De Sven here.

NL12-1005204 Esmee

The most important breeder for Tjeerd and Jouke is without doubt Esmee. Her sire is Pieter Veenstra's Seiko (Drachstercompagnie, NL), and Seiko is in turn a son of Rolex, which won the title of 1st National Ace Pigeon in the WHZB competition in 2009. The dam of Esmee comes from Dr. Schwidde (DE) and she is an inbred pigeon to De Raket, an outstanding racing hen in Germany and winner of four first prizes in important races. You can take a closer look at the pedigree of Esmee here. Esmee won 17 prizes 1 per 100 as a racing bird, including most notably:

1st NPO Chalon en Champagn 479 km  4,269 p. (and fastest of 10,975 p. with a 13 min. lead)
4th NPO St. Truiden        274 km 20,435 p.
2nd Sittard                241 km  6,763 p.
7th Duffel                 259 km  4,022 p.
8th Gennep                 168 km  2,788 p.

A complete overview of Esmee's best prizes can be found here. She also won the following titles:

2013 TBOTB/WHZB : 9th Ace Pigeon Allround (5th hen) and 12th Yearling Allround (9th hen)
2014 TBOTB/WHZB : 1st Ace Pigeon Allround and 19th One day long distance pigeon
2014 Province 11: Best One day long distance pigeon and 2nd Ace Pigeon general long distance
2014: Representative at Budapest Olympiad in allround category

After her successful career as a racing bird she quickly developed into a first class breeder: many of her youngsters and grandchildren have been winning pigeon races over the years. Her most important son is Mr. Sky, which we will take a closer look at as well.

NL13-4242338 Mr. Sky

Like we said, Mr. Sky is the most important son of Esmee. His achievements demonstrate that Esmee has excellent breeding qualities indeed. He won a first prize in province 11 from Quevrain against 20,469 pigeons, as well as many other top prizes (see picture). The sire of Mr. Sky is Sensation Blue, which is a son of the aforementioned Blue Hope. Click here for the full pedigree of Mr. Sky.

Achievements in the 2016 young birds season with descendants of the aforementioned pigeons

The descendants of the most important breeders of Elzinga have been very successful in 2016 as well. Jouke and Tjeerd have already won three first prizes this season with youngsters from their renowned breeders:

Heino 1st against 430 pigeons with NL16-4280356

The dam of the 356 is a full sister of Esmee. Click here for the pedigree of the 356.

Tilburg 1st against 7,745 pigeons with NL16-4280385

The 385 comes from a pairing of Esmee x Sven. Click here for the pedigree of the 385.

Weert 1st against 4,768 pigeons with NL16-4280419

This promising young pigeon was bred from Mr. Sky. The dam is Special Lady, and she is in turn a daughter of Lady Gaga. Click here for the full pedigree of the 419.

Last weekend (13th of August) they failed to win a first prize but they did put in an impressive overall performance. Let's have a look:

Tongeren 270 km 12,699 p.: 27-32-33-35-49-62-73-107-110-155-163-165-197-etc. (38/45)

Several other fanciers have achieved excellent results with pigeons that were obtained from the Elzinga combination as well. For instance, the Lokhorst combination (Doornspijk, NL) won a 1st prize from Laon in Province 8 North against 2,657 pigeons on 6th of August. Their winning pigeon was the NL16-1848625, a grandson of Mr. Sky. You can find the full pedigree of the 625 here. Dylan Hilbrands (Finsterwolde, NL) wins a 1st NPO Quievrain (13th of August) in Province 10 against 6,461 pigeons with NL16-4780277, a young pigeon that comes directly from Jouke and Tjeerd's collection. Click here for the pedigree of the 277. Foeke Hoekstra (Ternaard, NL) was very successful with a son of Esmee, which he purchased in a PIPA auction. He bred two different first prize winners from this son (a 1st Peronne against 365 pigeons and a 1st Asse-Zellik against 626 pigeons).