A dream of pigeon fancier Jan Gerrit Wiering from Veenhuizen has come true. Five of his pigeons took part in an important competition that started in St. Vincent in the South of France, one of which was crowned best pigeon in the Northern Netherlands.
Last Friday the pigeons were released at 11 am to fly 1,187 kilometers back home. On Saturday at 12.40 pm the first one arrived at Jan Gerrit’s. The first of all pigeons in the Northern Netherlands. “I was standing in the hallway and then I heard a beep and damn then I looked, and it was one from St. Vincent.”
A huge achievement, says Wiering proudly. “I live all the way in the north of the Netherlands, so my pigeons also have to fly extra far. Most pigeons only have to travel as far as Zeeland.”
“Every fancier and every pigeon fancier dreams of this,” continues the pigeon man. “There are only six marathon races of the Dutch Homing Pigeon Organisation. So that really counts. And this is also the longest of them. So that’s why it’s just a very good achievement.”
The pigeon that came home first was ultimately number 27 of the more than 10,000 pigeons that participated from the Netherlands. The fifth pigeon has yet to come home. “Success, that’s what you do it for. That motivates, of course. And I think the great thing is waiting for the pigeon. When it falls. Yes, I don’t think that can be understood by a layman. But you really get a kick of.”
Wiering has almost 100 pigeons at home. There are also many boys among them. How did he get into this hobby? “My father had a chicken coop and a pigeon came in. That’s how it all started.”
He trains the pigeons by releasing them every day after 6 pm. Then they can fly for an hour. Wiering closes the cages so that they cannot go back in immediately. “If they have eggs and young, then they will go right back in.” If the pigeons feel like flying, Wiering knows they are doing well.
It is not always safe for the pigeons. Every now and then one is grabbed by a bird of prey. This has happened twice recently. “I don’t like that very much, of course, because you don’t have pigeons for that.” Certainly if it concerns pigeons that have won a prize, then he is awakened by such an event. “But hey, it’s not worth a human life, I always say.”
The pigeon sport is a lucrative one. That is, if you have pigeons that win prizes. Sometimes they are sold for 1.6 million. Does Wiering also have such expensive pigeons? “No,” he laughs. “Then they must have delivered a top performance three times.” So what should we think about? “My pigeons don’t go for less than 10,000 euros.”