Piet Valk, Assendelft (Netherlands) The Dutch Superstar Piet Valk awaiting the arrival of his pigeons Assendelft is a protracted village at the west side of big brother Zaandam, and in the world of pigeon racing especially well-known for the overnight champions the Brugeman brothers. For the last 8 years it has also been the hometown of Piet and Joke Valk, who left behind their terrace house in Zaandam for a new house in Assendelft. Included on the new property is a huge garden which is a true paradise for any pigeon fancier. The house was entirely revamped and this was no problem for Piet as a former carpenter, and very soon a beautiful pigeon loft was constructed. A racing loft of 8 meters, a breeding loft with an aviary that was really special and different to the attic-loft in Zaandam. As soon as the racing season began the new racing loft met all expectations, and in 2004 with the young birds he was amongst the very best from the beginning. Since then the success story has continued! At the end of this article you will find the racing results at Club, Federation and Provincial and National level, where applicable for 2012. You will see that these pigeons win from 110km up until 700km.
Janssen-base Piet was born in 1951 in the village of Oostzaan. As a young lad he already had pigeons, just like his father, from all kinds of strains. After his marriage to Joke they found a house in Zaandam and he began pigeon racing again. Piet was especially fond of long distance racing at that time. In 1989 he moved to the address in Acaciastraat and from there Piet raced his pigeons from an attic-loft. This was also his golden period, together with his friend Piet Rietvink it was pigeon racing at the absolute highest level. Rietvink did not have much space for pigeons and therefore the breeders were housed at Piet s loft. The late eighties were historical for Piet Rietvink, his super hen Van Moorsel managed to become 3 times 2nd National Ace Hen and 1 time 1st. National short distance pigeon of The Netherlands. Van Moorsel was bred by Piet Valk. At the time the two friends owned a super couple, with a Janssen cock of Joop Offermans from Haarlem (named Jupiter ) and a hen coming from short distance specialist Jan Kuyzer from Krommenie (named Libera ). A number of top pigeons were bred from this pair and even today descendants obtain superb results for Piet Valk. In 1995 Piet Rietvink decided to quit and he sold all his pigeons including Jupiter to England. Piet Valk kept Libera. Last year he had the last child to this top pair in his breeding loft and managed to breed three youngster from this 1990 cock. The majority of Piet s pigeons are Janssen based through Joop Offerman and Jan Kuyzer. In 1993 grandchildren to the world famous James Bond of Bertie Camphuis were acquired, also a golden hit, in 1996 a yearling hen achieved 3rd short distance pigeon of The Netherlands.
New start in 2004 The year 2003 was the last year Piet Valk raced from Zaandam, but the season was ended in a characteristic way: winning the overall title in the Federation. Piet took all his birds with him from Zaandam and bred 100 youngsters enabling him to make a good selection at the end of the year. The youngsters were entered from the first until the last race of the young birds program and afterwards also on 4 late tour races; so all together 11 times in the basket. He selected 16 pairs from them for short and middle distance and 12 pairs for one day long distance racing. The breeding loft houses 20 pairs and Piet bred 75 youngsters for himself. The breeders were paired up approximately December 5th and raised the first round, the second round was placed under the short-/middle distance racers. The hens of the racers were taken out when the youngsters were 14 days old and the cocks fed up the youngsters. After that they were not paired up again. The one day long distance pigeons were paired February 10th and Piet let them breed, after that they were not paired up again. The introduction of the Wal Zoontjens pigeons. As a fancier always looking to improve an already fantastic family of pigeons, Piet and Wal Zoontjens decided to do some corporate breeding to the benefit of both fanciers. On the Piet Valk side the introduction of the offspring of the famous pair of Wal Zoontjens namely, Donkere As x Vivian, proved to be a stroke of genius. These crossings have pushed the Van Moorsel pigeons to a whole new level and the results from racing have been amazing. From these lines Piet also bred the 6th place pigeon in the final of the 2008 Sun City Million dollar pigeon race.
Lots of training tosses About 4 weeks before the first race Piet starts training the racers, twice from Hoofddorp, then about 8 times from Leimuiden (approx 30 km). The method used for many years is the double widowhood system, so he begins with a big racing team. Before a race with the pigeons spending 1 night in the basket, he always shows the partner varying from 15 minutes to half an hour.. major reason; it is then easier to catch and basket the pigeons. When the pigeons arrive home they can stay together until the night but this period is reduced when the race was very easy at a short distance. In between the races the pigeons are road trained once per week to Leimuiden. Joke takes them for training and liberates the hens first, the cocks fifteen minutes later. When they return Piet calls them in to their own lofts. After the last old birds race from Chateauroux the partners get to stay together, Piet lets them breed for three days and puts them on the widowhood system once again. The week before the first late tour race the old birds are trained from Leimuiden three times with great success, for example witnessed by the super result from Meer, with 19 pigeons in the top 30 in combine!!! So you can see the distances the pigeons are trained are relatively short and it is the orientation ability that is trained ensuring that the pigeons know what is expected of them. It also teaches them the routine that will be followed in the racing season.
Feeding system old birds From Sunday until Tuesday evening the hens get a light mixture consisting of 50% barley and 50% Zoontjens diet. Wednesday morning until Thursday morning they get 50% racing mixture and 50% Zoontjens diet. And from Thursday evening until Friday morning the racing mixture of Mariman is fed. For races with two nights in the basket the whole schedule is moved forward 1 day. Piet feeds his pigeons on the floor. From Sunday until Tuesday evening the cocks get Gerry+ of Versele Laga, afterwards they are fed up little by little with the Mariman racing mixture and 1 day before basketing 100% racing mixture. Furthermore the pigeons get peanuts to build up some energy reserves.
The youngbirds They are housed in a huge section and the youngsters are put in until the middle of April. The youngsters are trained a lot, about twenty times from 5 km and the last ten times from Leimuiden, all pigeons are liberated at the same time. Besides this they are all entered for the training tosses organized by the Amal. During the races the youngsters can build nests when they want to, all youngsters are entered for all races, including 5 late tour races. Just like the old birds, the youngsters are darkened first and then they are given extra light. Piet s selection criterion is based solely on performance; the pigeons need to score some top positions to ensure a spot in the next year s racing team. The youngsters get the same mixture all week consisting of 50% Mariman racing mixture, 25% Zoontjens diet and 25% barley. When the pigeons return home from a race they get clear drinking water. Before Piet goes to the club, they get fresh drinking water with glucose. Medical supervision Before pairing, the racers are given a 3 weeks coli cure of Dr. Van der Sluis in the drinking water, this is in November. The racers get this cure in December, and that is all until the racing begins. The day after a race the returning pigeons are given until Sunday evening BS of Belgica De Weerd, a week later this products is varied with Ridsol S of Dr. Van der Sluis. Five days before Piet starts training them, the youngsters receive a treatment of Orni Special for five days. This system has achieved great results as can be seen below:
The 019 Hen This bloodline is found in most of the pigeons and she is the main breeding line in the loft. NL01-1687019 Piet Valk, 5 th National racing hen WHZB 2003. This hen became a super breeding hen for Piet Valk in the past years. Some children of this 019 hen are: - Hen NL04-1865132 - 132 Daughter 019 - Hen NL04-1865133 - 133 Daughter 019 - Hen NL05-1210028 - De 028 Daughter 019 - Hen NL05-1210029 - De 029 Daughter 019 - Cock NL07-1650287 FACON, 5 th best cock of Holland in 2010 Some grandchildren of this 019 hen are: - Cock NL07-1650331 DE BOURGES - Cock NL07-1650332 - 332 Grandson 019
STILL AT THE TOP IN 2012 The results from the start of the season. 7.4.12 Meer, 110 km. Club 330 pigeons 1,2,5,6,18,21,23,25,26,28,30 etc. Federation 2.369 p. 7,16,37,38,97,115,117,126 etc. 14.4.12 Duffel, 156 km. Club 395 pigeons 2,3,5,9,10,14,15,16,17,26 etc. Federation 2.541 p. 18,20,28,53,55,89,90,93,95 etc. 21.4.12 Nivelles 214 km. Club 376 pigeons 5,7,8,18,19,33,25 etc. Federation 2.411 p. 49,58,75,128,129 etc. 29.4.12 Nivelles 214 km. Club 381 pigeons 9,10,13,19,21,26 etc. Federation 2.426 p. 44,53,71,141,144 etc.
8.5.12 Meer 110 km. Club 317 pigeons 1,2,7,13,15,23,24,25,27,28,29,32 etc. Federation 2.017 p. 2,15,42,60,63 etc. 12.5.12 Chateaudun Club 215 pigeons 5,6,8,14,21,23,25,26,28 etc. 547 km. Federation 1.326 p. 8,9,12,21,47,57,62,67,74 etc. Nat. NPO 10.198 p. 66,67,81,116,286,389,460,500,553 etc. 19.5.12 Soissons 364 km. Club 272 pigeons 6,7,9,14,18,20,21,28,29 etc. Federation 1.801 p. 38,39,64,109,150,155,157 etc. Provincial 12.349 p. 113,114,210,345,521,531,551 etc. 26.5 Orleans 546 km. Club 190 pigeons 1,2,5,7,8,9,11,12,15,16 etc. Federation 1.292 p. 5,6,19,21,22,23,29,30,48,64,82,90,91 etc. Nat. NPO 8.779 p. 31,34,132,136,142,149,180,182 etc. 2.6.12 Nanteuil 398 km. Club 173 pigeons 4,7,8,9,15,16,18 etc. Federation 1.284 p. 16,22,24,25,45,46,50,72 etc. Provincial 9.332 p. 137,176,184,187,344,351,384 etc. 9.6.12 Bourges 624 km. Club 146 pigeons 3,8,10,11,12,24,34 etc. Federation 7,25,28,29,38,69,98 etc. Nat. NPO 6.844 p. 40,88,95,101,168,322 etc. 23.6.12 Tours 638 km. Club 146 p. 1,18,19,20,24,25,33 etc. Federation 936 p. 1,63,72,83,90,92 etc. Provincial 6.864 p. 9 30.6.12 Soissons 364 km. Club 202 p. 1,3,12,30,31,32,33,34,35,37 etc. Federation 1.219 p. 2,22,107 etc. Provincial 8.231 p. 18,137,624 etc. 7.7.12 Chateauroux 668 km. Club 134 p. 1,6,7,17,18,19,20 etc. Federation 849 p. 4,16,19,61,67,69,74 etc. Provincial 6.324 p. 16,67,92,320 etc. 7.7.2012 Grimbergen 173 km. Club 440 p. 1,4,10,11,15,25,26,28 etc. Federation 2.498 p. 1,18,52,61,106 etc. Provincial 16.923 p. 39 21.7.12 Argenton 697 km. Club 120 p. 1,6,12,14,15,16 etc. Federation 685 p. 4,13,24,29,33,39,46,69 etc. Provincial 5.427 p. 17,45,107,132,153,162,210 etc. 11.8.12 Meer 110 km. Club 389 p. 1,2,5,6,8,9,12,14 etc. Federation 2.541 p. 7,8,21,22,25,26,29,39 etc.
Provincial 18.141 p. 31,32,93,94,113,121,135,164 etc. 18.8.12 Meer 110 km. Club 216 p. 2,3,5,6,8,10,11 etc. Federation 1.722 p. 7,8,21,26,35,37,38,55 etc. Provincial 12.018 p. 61,67,174,213,253,266,268 etc. The results are terrific and the pigeons are not only very good but also very nice to look at. Piet Valk has based his pigeons mainly on the Janssen lines and this has kept him at the top of pigeon racing in The Netherlands. This article was received from Wim Van Elsland and updated by Robert Swanepoel