Have you never heard of Team Kirchmann? You have no idea of how successful this pigeon loft is? In that case it is time for you to be introduced to the four fanciers of team Kirchmann, which is located in Essen. The team consists of two brothers and two daughters: Thomas (46), his brother Andreas (34) and his two daughters Melissa (16) and Melinda (11). In fact the first member of the family to get involved in pigeon racing was the father of Thomas and Andreas. The two brothers took over the loft after their father’s death in 1992. Later on, the two daughters joined the team as well. The four fanciers are now part of a very strong partnership.
Contrary to what some fanciers believe, the Kirchmann team does not have a large collection of pigeons. Instead they have a small group that is easy to monitor. They race with 30 widowers and 23 hens raced on widowhood; the partners stay at home. This method has proven itself over the years. Their collection of breeding pigeons is rather limited as well, with 15 breeding pairs, many of which are kept in separate aviaries. It is basically impossible for them to keep more pigeons, as both Thomas and his brother Andreas and their wives have full-time jobs. They lack the time to run a large pigeon family and they like to spend some time with their children as well. This means there is no time to organise long training flights on weekdays. They adopt a straight-forward strategy for their pigeons. This is surprising, given the excellent performances over the years. It seems that a lot has to do with the pigeons themselves, which are of top quality.
Let's have a look at their most important achievements of 2013.
A wonderful 2013 season
I have already discussed this season’s achievements briefly in the introduction. The most remarkable feat is their title of First National Champion Young Birds in category 3 and their 9th place in the Club Championship for yearlings in Germany. In addition they have won a whole lot of important championship prizes. It seems that this was the season in which everything came together. Team Kirchmann won the following titles in the region against 538 other lofts:
1st Champion in the Union 1st Champion in the Union Yearlings 1st Ace Cock with "Messi" 08995-09-1087 1st Champion in the Union with the five best pigeons 1st Champion in the Union Young Birds
This list includes their first places only; needless to say that they have won several other prizes in championships as well.
Team Kirchmann races in a fairly large union of 80 lofts, which is quite a lot. That reminds me of a union in my neighbourhood that consists of only 7 or 8 different lofts. This loft has won the following titles in their union:
1st RV-Champion in the club 1st RV-Champion Cup winner 1st RV-Champion Cocks 1st Champion of the "Die Brieftaube" magazine 2nd RV-Champion Hens Winner of a bronze, a silver and a golden medal
They took no less than 6 first prizes this season and they have won a total of 46 races from 1995 to 2013. This was a brilliant season with a success rate of just under 61%.
We give you a few other impressive results:
- They took part in the race from Wiesentheid against 10,372 pigeons in the union against a lot of competitors on 3 June 2013. The pigeons of Kirchmann managed to win the 1st, 2nd, 31st and 77th prize. They won a total of 27 prizes with 45 basketed pigeons, which is 60%.
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In the race from Osterhofen (530km) against 5,764 pigeons on 30 June 2013 they won a 2nd, 26st, 52nd and 117th prize at regional level. They won 30 prizes with 39 basketed pigeons, or a success rate of 76.92%. In fact they achieved an even higher percentage in the race from Wiesentheid on 26 May 2013 against 10,808 pigeons. Their first pigeon arrived fairly late and took a 16th prize but the loft won 37 prizes with 45 pigeons, resulting in a percentage of 82,22%. Only 8 pigeons could not take home a prize in this race. This is an impressive global result in a union with a lot of opponents! We think these results are hard to match; keep in mind that their racing pigeons are hardly trained during the week. It seems that the quality of their pigeons is the decisive factor here.
Top class breeders
The key to success in this loft is their top quality pigeon collection. This is more or less the only explanation for their impressive results: Thomas and Andreas have a full-time job so there is no time for training flights during the week. This means they rely on a collection of outstanding breeding pigeons.
One of them is the 02884-07-242 "Eurostar Supercrack". This is one of the best grandchildren of "Jonge Supercrack" of Ludo Claessens. This pigeon has bred an incredible number of top class pigeons. The sire of this great breeder is none other than Eurostar of C. & M. Van Koppen and he is currently in the hands of Frank Sander from Müster (DE). The dam is Maria, a daughter of the world famous Jonge Supercrack of Ludo Claessens. The youngsters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of this phenomenal breeder are now winning prizes for team Kirchmann, as well as in several other lofts. This is something the fanciers from Essen can be proud of. Three youngsters of this Eurostar Supercrack will be offered in our “Best of Germany 2013” PIPA auction.
Their top class breeding loft also houses pigeons of Friedrich Neuhaus & son from Düsseldorf, one of the best German lofts. These pigeons play an important role in this success story as well. Pigeons of A. Marx from Gelsenkirchen have been a great addition in the breeding loft in Essen as well; they have been breeding great descendants.
This is only a brief overview of the impressive collection of breeding pigeons in Essen. If you would like to learn more, do not hesitate to ask them. They will be happy to answer any question.
The loft of the Kirchmann family