Champions choose quality
Champions choose BEYERS
My name is Stuart Wilcox from Bristol in the UK and I am a lifelong pigeon fancier. In 2018 I met Dick De Leeuw at the “Gouden Duif “ in Antwerp and after a few beers in fact many beers he suggested I tried some of the BEYERS range of corns. Part of my breeding stock is from Albert Derwa who had always talked of the quality of BEYERS so for me it was an exciting prospect.
In the UK we have quite varied racing, the majority of the races are from France which means the pigeons have to fly the Channel. In good weather, this is ok but weather patterns and winds are often unpredictable so it is often the case that pigeons have to fly longer hours to get home. I often hear the term feed to win, however in modern times I believe the fancier also has to have an eye on feed to allow a pigeon to come home, even when it makes a mistake. Our race program starts at 100km and finishes at 960 km’s. Whilst it’s true to say that not all my pigeons compete all the way through to the final race, I do house my middle and long distance pigeons together and I feed them on the same system.
I spent some time studying the various mixtures that BEYERS offered, one thing I really liked was that some mixtures were linked to certain fanciers and there was lots of information and videos (You-tube) explaining various methods. It was easy for me; I wanted to fly a middle distance pigeon like Gerad & Bas Verkerk and a distance pigeon like Gerard Koopman. What I also took into account was that Gerard Koopman and Gerard & Bas Verkerk are both famed for their performances on very heavy flights and this suited the problems we encountered racing the English Channel.
In 2019 we combined PREMIUM VERKERK SPORT and PREMIUM KOOPMAN ALL-in-ONE as our main racing mixture. Straight away we spotted some real differences in the pigeons, soft plumage and plump muscles with a nice pink tone and the birds were really active. We noticed a massive uplift in the birds exercise around the loft and the birds would really fly with zest. I work so I have to leave every morning at 7.30am, its always a risk that I cannot get my pigeons in on time, esp when they exercise really well however what we also noticed on this feeding system is that once the traps were open the birds would quickly enter the loft which we put down to the liking of the Peanuts in the KOOPMAN ALL-in-ONE mixture. The cocks are feed add-lib twice a day and the hens once a day.
“39” who flew 15.34 hours to win 2nd Provincial Thurso 850 km on his first ever race North.
We are now on our third year using this system and we have only changed it slightly. To enable the transition from no exercise to high exercise at the start of the season we now add PREMIUM VERKERK LIGHT for around 6 weeks to include pre-season and the first two races, we also use PREMIUM VERKERK LIGHT for Yougsters. We were fortunate to receive advice directly from Bas Verkerk and now mix VERKERK LIGHT with our sport mixtures for 3 days (never 100% light mix) adding more sport as the week goes on with 100% sport on Thursday and Friday. We also add CONDITION from BEYERS at least 3 times a week, which is combined with ENERGY OIL or Zell Oxygen.
We set out with the aim of an all-round feeding program and I believe we have achieved that. Results in 2019, 2020 and 2021 at short to middle distance have been exceptional however in that time fed on the same feed we have managed 1st National (Section C) Barcelona 1174km, 2nd Provincial Tarbes 926km, 4th Provincial Pau 870km. Due to restrictions we could not fly from France in 2021, one of my top south road racers was sent to Thurso, 850 km to the north, he has never been in that direction in his life, he was timed at 9.34pm to win 2nd National (Section C) after 15.34 hours on the wing, testimony that the feeding system gives my birds all of the nurturance and energy they require.
written by Stuart Wilcox – Bristol (UK)
Some of our results from 2019 to 2020. (Only top 20)
Champion of Champions National Flying Club 2021
4th Champion of Champions National Flying Club 2019
6th Golden Duif (UK) 2019
L A Baker Trophy Winner (Provincial Champion (South West) NFC 2019
1st 6th Combine Truro 3197b
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 9th 10th 12th Bristol Fed Truro 1820b
1st 2nd 13th 17th 19th Combine Sennon Cove 1744b
1st National Provincial Barcelona
2nd National Fougeres 6500b
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 8th 12th 13th BICC National Truro 5345b
2nd 4th 5th 6th 9th 10th 16th 17th 18th Combine Coventry 2452b
2nd 3rd 5th 7th Combine Newton Abbott 2426b
2nd National Provicial St Philberts 995b
2nd 3rd 4th 5th 10th 16th Combine Coventry 719b
2nd Provincial Tarbes
2nd Provincial Thurso
3rd 4th 13th 14th 20th BICC National Penzance 3575b
3rd 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th Open NFC Sennon Cove 3600b
3rd 4th 9th 10th 12th 13th 14th 17th Combine Yelverton 2194b
3rd Combine Eastbourne 2394b
3rd 10th 11th 12th 20th Combine Ashbourne 1299b
3rd 4th 9th 12th 13th 19th Combine Wakefield 443b
4th 5th 6th 8th 11th 18th Combine Exeter 2960b
4th Combine Littlehampton 2641b
4th Provincial Pau
5th 7th Open NFC Sennon Cove 5479b
7th 13th Combine Brighton 2018b
7th Bristol Fed Yelverton 1423b
8th 10th 11th 13th 15th 16th 19th Combine Stratford 822b
9th 10th Combine Ramsgate 1419b
10th 11th 12th 20th Combine Truro 2157b
11th National Falaise 7441b
13th National Messac 4500b
13th 20th Combine Newton Abbott 3455b
10th 14th 19th Bristol Fed 1423b
15th National Barclonal
15th 17th 20th Combine Truro 1925b
15th Combine Brighton 680b
15th Open CSCFC Thurso (On the day)
16th Bristol Fed Oakhampton 1929b
19th National Sigogne 2100b
20th Combine Chichester 3119b