But also Leon Jacobs has done more than his fair share in this with his pigeons!
The colony of Leon Jacobs is mainly based on the pigeons of his deceased sport friend Pros Roosen, this in combination with pigeons from Dirk Van Dyck, Fons Slaets, Louis Vander Wielen, Jos & Jules Engels, Luc Ronsmans (the Robert Van Eycken pigeons) etc… Pros Roosen and Leon were the best of friends, so much so that a few pigeons were regularly exchanged. So is the ‘Daughter Freddy 544/04’ which grew to be an important pillar, as stock pigeon in the breeding loft in Tremelo. In October 2009 Leon was loaned a ‘Son Freddy 516/04’ (which was sold by Pros at the end of 2009, and he coupled him with the ‘Daughter Freddy 5226516/04’… where out he obtained 2 beautiful ‘inbred pigeons’ to the Freddy… which are the latest acquisitions which have been put in gear in the breeding loft. Moreover, the current breeding stock consists of 50% direct descendants of the ‘Super breeder Freddy’ from Pros Roosen! But conversely, ‘top class’ moved from Tremelo to Pros Roosen… with overwhelming success. So coupled Leon his 12 breeding couples at the end of November 2009, and all the youngsters from this breed moved directly to Kermt, where they were raced from the lofts of Pros Roosen up to the national races. And it turned out to be bull’s eye… because Pros ‘shined’ with his ‘Jacobs pigeons’ in the nationals! Because there were a few real ‘toppers’ amongst them so as the following 3 crack pigeons:
-‘Inferno 663/10’
4° Gueret 83 p. 7° Argenton 208 p. 13° Prov Argenton 1.689 p. 32° CFW Argenton 6.036 p. 140° Nat Argenton 22.442 p. 28° Bourges 304 p. 207° Prov Bourges 2.890 p. 495° CFW Bourges 8.730 p. 511° Zone Bourges 9.512 p. 1646 Nat Bourges 30.748 p. 25° Sezanne 267 p. 453° Prov Sezanne 4.545 p. 53° Laon 852 p. 140° Laon Sml 2.126 p... etc
This top athlete comes out the ‘Son Cloon 725/07’ x ‘Blue 536/05’ (daughter 2° Nat La Souterraine).
-‘Number One 676/10’
The ‘Crack’ in the team of youngsters 2010 by Pros Roosen!
1° Bourges 304 p. 3° Prov Bourges 2.890 p. 17° CFW Bourges 8.730 p. 20° Zone Bourges 9.512 p. 64° Nat Bourges 30.742 p. 8° Argenton 208 p. 16° Prov Argenton 1.689 p. 39° CFW Argenton 6.036 p. 165° Nat Argenton 22.442 p. 22° Marienbourg 335 p. 27° Chimay 1.107 p. 40° Chimay 2.964 p. 47° Chimay Sml 1.113 p. 70° Chimay Sml 2.328 p. etc...
He was bred from the ‘Black Slaets 173/06’ (direct Fond Slaets) x ‘Blue Van Dijck 998/05’
-‘Den Argenton 673/10’
1° Argenton 208 p. 4° Prov Argenton 1.689 p. 14° CFW Argenton 6.036 p. 46° Nat Argenton 22.442 p. 25° Bourges 304 p. 185° Prov Bourges 2.890 p. 404° CFW Bourges 8.730 p. 453° Zone Bourges 9.512 p. 1444 Nat Bourges 30.748 p. 35° Chimay 1.107 p. 56° Chimay 2.964 p.
And comes out the ‘Schone Blauwe Lichte 790/06 (line Kannibaal Van Dijck) x ‘Klein Melles 319/07’ (direct Robert Van Eycken).
But the pigeons from Leon Jacobs also performed brilliantly in their own lofts. The breed of the first round went then to Pros… these from the 2° round were of course for ‘own use’. The 18-head widowers team and the 4 old racing hens were coupled in such a way (around the 2nd of January ’10) that they had a nest about the same time as the 2° round of the breeding pigeons. Leon kept 58 youngsters from this breed for himself, a few went to a fancier friend. The youngsters and old pigeons only train once a day (breeding pigeons are not let out), and this in the late afternoon. It is a system which Leon introduced in 1991 when he regularly stayed abroad… and a local carer came to feed and water the pigeons. To his great surprise, Leon discovered that his pigeons had no problem with this, quite the opposite, they performed ‘at least’ as well, if not better, than before. That’s why he’s kept to this method for more than 20 years, and is still following it today! The pigeons are only fed once a day as well… but enough. Leon found that, as they were only fed once a day, they were always ‘hungry’ enough, in other words it is good for their appetite! The youngsters are darkened from the beginning of March to about the longest day… then, from August, lighting is used until about 20h30. Leon managed to keep his pigeons free from smallpox by vaccinating them twice with ‘colombo pox’ for paramyxo and smallpox in one and the same vaccination.
Take note of the shining ball on the roof of the house for protection against birds of prey.
Seeing as it concerns youngsters from the 2° round, Leon doesn’t train the youngsters with the ‘early birds’… and certainly not when there is a NE-wind, as was the case in 2010. Also because at the time all the attention was focused on the game with the old widowers and hens… that’s why the interest in the game with the youngsters took a back seat at the time! When the time comes to basket them for training… they are firstly given a cure for trichomonaisis and the airways. Once they are basketted, Leon pays special attention to the eyes, and always has drops from veterinary surgeon G.Mertens from Herselt by the hand. The youngsters are raced with the sliding door… but in contrast to other fanciers, or what is often read in articles… he doesn’t take the pigeons away to train them himself once they race from France. Simply because Leon is not an advocate of the cocks and hens seeing each other often. His preference even goes out to young hens which are ready to pair, but don’t yet have a ‘steady’ partner… you can really make them jealous… and this is the motivation trick that you can utilize optimally, according to Leon! That’s why he also has a preference for the races in August for his youngsters! Although Leon discovered the single disadvantage when his pigeons were basketted for two nights for the first time… and hadn’t really mastered the art of ‘drinking’ in the basket. From Argenton 2010 they were even given 2 extra nights in the basket, as a result of which a few pigeons were ‘done in’ when they returned home… it was also his ‘worst’ result of the season with only 1 early pigeon (7° against 716 p.) and 4/14. Luckily Leon soon got them back in condition, and after this ‘dip’ they were in real ‘top condition’, which resulted in a formidable end of season with 2 x 1° Provincial victories in a row from Blois on the 28th of August and Gueret 1 week later (4th of Sept), where he even won 1° + 2° Provincial!
14/8 Blois 326 p. 5,9,20,31,57,72,73,90 (8/11) Prov 1.074 p. 7,16,32,45,96,127,128,173,248,312 (10/11) 21/8 La Souterraine 477 p. 7,11,14,24,34,41,50,59,76,92,102,131 (12/24) Prov 2.176 p. 19,29,37,96,135,154,189,224,281,336,381,479, 670,707 (14/24) Nat 17.017 p. 80,138,166,470,666,785,1026,1215,1548,1868, 2172,2814,4089 (13/24) 28/8 Blois 266 p. 1,12,21,28,33,43,48,58,77,84,86 (11/16) Prov 991 p. 1,18,50,66,84,103,114,140,197,240,241,261 (12/16) 04/9 Gueret 419 p. 1,2,6,16,19,20,39,44,59,64,65,76 (12/24) Prov 1.661 p. 1,2,13,49,61,62,127,140,204,228,231,272 (12/24) Nat 13.885 p. 11,32,181,562,640,642,1222,1359,1852,2099, 2188,2439 (12/24)
Let’s take a closer look at the performances of a few of the shiners in the team of ‘youngsters 2010’:
-‘Manneqiun’ B10-2153062
07/8 Pithiviers 375 p. 26 14/8 Blois 326 p. 9 Prov 1.074 p. 16 Intprov 2.974 p. 36 21/8 La Souterraine 477 p. 7 Prov 2.176 p. 19 Nat 17.017 p. 80 28/8 Blois 266 p. 1 Prov 991 p. 1 Intprov 2.572 p. 7
She returned home hurt from Gueret. She is a daughter of ‘Son Goede Zwarte 822/08’ (out the ‘Goede Zwarte 281/02 x the ‘1° Semi-Nat Chateauroux 441/04’) x ‘Klein Melles 840/08’ (daughter of the ‘Lichte 034/00 x top hen ‘Daughter Freddy 544/04’… the ‘Lichte 034’ stems out the line Kannibaal-Dirk Van Dijck x Pros Roosen-hen out joint breed).
-’t Schoon Licht’ B10-2153036
31/7 Blois 454 p. 2 Prov 2.413 p. 2 09/8 Argenton Nat 22.442 p. 4577 28/8 Blois 266 p. 12 Prov 991 p. 18 Intprov 2.572 p. 80 04/9 Gueret 419 p. 1 Prov 1.661 p. 1 Nat 13.885 p. 11
She won from Gueret with a 4 minute lead on her loft companion which also won the 2° provincial with a 7 minute lead on the opposition! This pigeon stems from the ‘Vrome Mellese 824/08 (coming self out ‘Son Rode Pater 319/05 Van der Wielen x ‘Blauw uit Goede Zwarte 320/03’) x ‘Hen 099/08’ from Luc Ronsmans (out the ‘Ben II’ 899/04 Robert Van Eycken x ‘Super As 605/06’, self 2° Ace pigeon Brabant Union 2006).
Het hok van de jonge duiven
Old birds
You could read above about the performances of the 2 best youngsters out 2010, but in the lofts of the old birds and yearlings there are real cracks, including 3 daughter of the ‘Good Breeding couple’… in other words the current ‘top couple’ in the Leon Jacobs breeding loft… from which we wouldn’t like to keep the achievements from you:
-‘The 46 Hen’ B08-2047846
This hen has already raced a powerful honours list together, from which we selected the following top performances
’08 Argenton Nat 25.583 p. 1168 ’08 Marne La Vallée 544 p. 18 ’08 Gueret Prov 2.157 p. 19 Nat 14.784 p. 46 ’09 Issoudun Prov 1.817 p. 24 Intpro 5.848 p. 122 ’09 Chateauroux Pro 1.817 p. 24 Intprov 10.719 p. 94 ’09 Chateauroux Pro 2.476 p. 209 Intprov 7.871 p. 733 ’09 Montluçon I.Pro 9.350 p. 633 ’09 Argenton Prov 2.411 p. 167 Nat 21.092 p. 427 ’09 Blois Prov 1.840 p. 111 ’09 La Souterraine 120 p. 1 Prov 550 p. 2 Nat 4.459 p. 17 ’10 Pithiviers 549 p. 38 ’10 Argenton Prov 1.171 p. 6 Nat 10.549 p. 49 ’10 Moulins I.Prov 2.678 p. 173 ’10 Blois Prov 1.045 p. 15 ’10 Vierzon Prov 619 p. 31 Intprov 2.992 p. 84
Moreover, this ‘The 46 Hen’ has also proved her breeding worth, because in 2010 she became mother of the 2° Prov Gueret 1.661 p.!
-‘The 45 Hen’ B08-2047845
Nest-sister of ‘The 46-hen’! A selection out the very long honours list gave the following top listings:
’08 Pithiviers 549 p. 30 ’08 Marne La Vallée 1.158 p. 27 ’08 Marne La Vallée 551 p. 27 ’08 Gueret Prov 2.157 p. 94 Nat 14.784 p. 289 ’09 Bourges I Prov 3.123 p. 89 Nat 22.499 p. 753 ’09 Issoudun Prov 1.817 p. 14 Intprov 5.848 p. 69 ’09 Montluçon I.Pro 9.350 p. 775 ’09 Blois Prov 1.840 p. 5 ’09 Vierzon Prov 3.124 p. 164 ’09 Bourges II Pro 2.030 p. 113 Nat 15.508 p. 518 ’10 Marne La Vallée 549 p. 30 ’10 Vierzon Prov 2.304 p. 23 Intprov 8.869 p. 70 ’10 Bourges I Nat 22.476 p. 1931 ’10 Chateauroux Pro 1.740 p. 38 Nat 17.109 p. 377 ’10 Vierzon Intprov 2.992 p. 250 ’10 Bourges II Prov 1.399 p. 112
-‘The 35 Hen’ B09-2075935
A real ‘Poulidorke’… to put it in cycling terms, because in 2010 she stranded at an honourable 2° prize three times! She is also full sister of the previous top hens ’The 45’ and ‘The 46’… so daughter of the ‘good breeding couple’ Leon Jacobs:
’09 Orleans 354 p. 35 ’09 Bourges II Prov 5.250 p. 348 Nat 37.357 p. 1344 ’09 La Souterraine 583 p. 11 Prov 2.385 p. 38 Nat 17.814 p. 281 ’09 Salbris 389 p. 17 Prov 1.614 p. 103 ’09 Gueret Prov 2.086 p. 38 Nat 14.245 p. 114 ’10 Bourges I Prov 2.413 p. 226 Nat 17.138 p. 965 ’10 Chateauroux 476 p. 2 Prov 2.075 p. 12 Intprov 9.026 p. 36 ’10 Montluçon 230 p. 2 Prov 1.147 p. 16 Intprov 5.907 p. 40 ’10 Blois Prov 1.621 p. 111 ’10 Vierzon 223 p. 2 Prov 896 p. 4 Intprov 3.826 p. 17
Three ‘full sisters’ and real ‘toppers’ in the racing lofts by Leon! Up until now they have jointly won 58 prizes (without doubles) wherefrom 39 times ‘at least’ per 10… even 10 times per ‘100’… whereby ‘The 46’ is also mother of the 2° Prov Gueret 2010! That counts! The father of these 3 sisters is a son of the super hen ‘Daughter Freddy 2004’… whilst the mother of this ‘good breeding couple’ is a hen out the own ‘old sort’, in which the sort from Willy Van Malderen is worked… she won self 6° Nat Las Souterraine 13.965 p. in ’06, whilst her father also won 11° Nat La Souterraine 13.988 p. in ’03!
Could it be true that ‘top pigeons’ descend from ‘top pigeons’? For whoever is not yet convinced, the pigeons of Leon Jacobs deliver the perfect proof! Both Leon Jacobs and Pros Roosen achieved phenomenal top performances, with 1° prizes in the provincial and national ‘extreme middle classics’… with even double ‘provincial victory’ in Tremelo… by exchanging the very best available in both lofts! That the input of descendants of the ‘Super breeder Freddy’ has also added great value to the lofts in Tremelo… is considered by Leon as a: ‘welcome bonus’! No wonder that the pigeon future looks rosy for him, with such top quality in the lofts… with pigeons which in the races over the last few seasons have repeatedly shown their enormous ‘racing and breeding qualities’… this despite the restriction in space. It is not a ‘lot’ which is good… but the ‘good’ is a lot, also applies here! Leon Jacobs… a name to remember!