Stuart Wilcox 1st & 2nd National Fougeres 5.667 birds.
Stuart Wilcox 1st & 2nd National Fougeres 5.667 birds.
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Champions choose BEYERS
On Saturday the 20th of May Stuart Wilcox secured 1st & 2nd Section 1st & 2nd National from Fougeres 222 miles in what turned out a very heavy race. The birds were liberated in France and had to face 25 mile an hour head winds in the English Channel with higher gusts and high temperatures when they arrived on land.
Stuart who is assisted by Jeff Wells timed Turbo Lizzy at 12.21, followed very shortly after by Turbo Natalia at 12.22. Both hens are raced on Widowhood, a system they learnt from Albert Derwa and both are 3 years old and have been very consistent racers. The sire of both hens was a 2016 cock called Turbo Magic which is bred by Koen Minderhoud from Late Turbo 608 winner of 1st Ace Pigeon One Day Long Distance 2013 in Province 1 Zeeland. 2nd Prov Roye 7,452b 2nd Prov Gien 3,824b, 2nd NPO – Chateauroux 2,227b (Beaton by Geeloger), 4th NPO – Chateauroux 3,238b, 4th SS – Sens 1,412b, 7th Prov Souppes-s.-L. 6,036b, 8th NPO – Ruffec 2,084b. Late Turbo 608 is a full brother to Nieuwe Turbo 1st NAT Ace WHZB LD plus 1st Sens 1510b, 1st Niergnies 1795b and Miss Turbo dam of Champions Cornish Queen, Super, 69, Super 221 etc. The dam of Turbo Lizzy is a 2012 direct Koen Minderhoud, the dam of Turbo Natalia is a direct Dirk Van Dyck hen along with Magic Turbo was purchased at the Blackpool Golden Duif Auction in the Savoy Hotel. As well as a very keen Pigeon fancier Stuart Wilcox is also an Auctioneer and works together with Rik Hermans of the Duif.
Turbo Lizzy has won 1st Club 244b 29th WoESRC Yelverton, 7th Fed Sennon Cove 953b, 12th NW Section CSCFC Coutances, 25th Fed Yelverton 1342b and 34th Open BICC National Poitiers where she flew 9 ¼ hours. Turbo Natalia has won 2nd Club Exeter 210b, 7th Fed Wadebridge 682b, 16th Fed Yelverton 1101b, 41st Open NFC Guernsey, 116th Open NFC Sennon Cove etc.
We asked Stuart how the birds are prepared and he responds. The birds are fed on PREMIUM VERKERK SPORT mixed with PREMIUM KOOPMAN ALL-IN-ONE which are very fatty mixtures, we are happy that these mixtures give all of the nutrition the birds need however on the advice of Dick De Leeuw we added a small amount of energy corn on the last two feeds. The hens are also given Super Depurative and Super Energy from Country Wide. I’m not one for heavy treatments, the birds get Parastop every November and are wormed and cankered before the season, after the first race they are given a respiratory treatment on the corn and that’s normally it. In terms of Supplements, the birds get BEYERS RELOAD on return and some mixed oils and BREWERS YEAST. As a prep for racing 3 times a week they get Zell Oxygen from Dr Wolf and CONDITION from BEYERS on the food. I always give my birds a special bath two days before basketing for a National with salts and de-scaler. The help we receive from Sam & Joe from Countrywide and Dick and Koen from BEYERS has been brilliant. Again on Dick and Koen advice we brought URTICA-CHLORELLA MIX and DETOX MINERAL MIX which is given on return from racing.
On the above system we are always impressed by how quickly the birds recover and how well they exercise around the loft which is very important to us as we can no longer road train due to birds of prey.
Picture: Stuart Wilcox holding Turbo Lizzy & Jeff Wells holding Turbo Natalia
written by Stuart Wilcox – Bristol (UK)
DETOX MINERAL MIX
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Champions choose BEYERS
A high-quality grit and mineral mixture supplemented with selected cereals and seeds; a carefully formulated combination of herbs and clay products that help rid the body of waste materials.
The composition of this mixture ensures better absorption of nutrients, allowing a more efficient build up to optimum condition.
Champion of Champions National Flying Club 2021
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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
CO-CREATION BEYERS PREMIUM WAL ZOONTJENS YELLOW
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From the day in 1968 when Wal Zoontjens began pigeon racing as an independent entrant in Riel (NL), he has always held a position among the champions.
His father Jan Zoontjens had been looking into better husbandry methods from as early as the nineteen-thirties. The book ‘Nutrition, vitamins and pigeons’ by Arie van den Hoek served as his guide.
His vision formed the basis for the mixtures that Wal Zoontjens developed in collaboration with BEYERS Technical Consultants, and which they released in 1989 for use by pigeon fanciers all around the World, BEYERS PREMIUM WAL ZOONTJENS YELLOW ‘The unique and authentic one with the grand master’s signature!’
BEYERS PREMIUM WAL ZOONTJENS YELLOW remains an ideal mixture for use with every feeding program.
BEYERS made this film about the feeding program and racing system of Wal Zoontjens together with Frans Strikker (SimulPlus) and Falco Ebben (PigeonPixels).
CO-CREATION BEYERS PREMIUM KOOPMAN ALL-IN-ONE
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Champions choose BEYERS
BEYERS worked with Gerard Koopman, to develop GOLDCORN KOOPMAN, an unique ingredient (animal proteins and fats from cheese, milk and sheepfat), and then added it to their first co-creation PREMIUM KOOPMAN ALL-IN-ONE mixture, creating a main course and dessert in one feed.
PREMIUM KOOPMAN ALL-IN-ONE mixture was developed to fulfil Gerard’s vision of being able to feed all types of pigeons, every day and throughout the year with a single basic allround mixture. According to the pigeons’ requirements, KOOPMAN ALL-IN-ONE is mixed with barley, paddy rice or BEYERS ORIGINAL SUPER DEPURATIVE.
BEYERS made this film about the feeding program and racing system of Gerard Koopman and his team together with Frans Strikker (SimulPlus) and Falco Ebben (PigeonPixels).