Casaert-Sénéchal from Russeignies:
1st National Ace KBDB
Great Middle Distance 2011
and 2nd National Ace KBDB
Middle Distance 2011
         

by Stefan Mertens

Click on any photo for larger version 




Casaert with one
of his many
champions

Part of the
Casaert lofts

Russeignies: Sébastien Casaert and pigeon-partner Francois Sénéchal have again made a very good racing season. It is a fairytale that started with the very first important race of the 2011 racing season... 


Specifically, we are talking about the interprovincial race organized from Vierzon. A blue hen arrived first, and a few hours later it was official that this very nice hen won the 1st prize interprovincial against 6,659 year birds. Butthat was not all.  She not only won the 1st prize in the year birds category but was also the fastest Vierzon flyer.  In this case, we are talking about  17,721 birds!  A superb performance!


Everybody could see that the condition of the Casaert-Sénéchal birds was at a very high level.  This top condition was maintained during the whole racing season in the loft. Top performances followed one after another, and every week the combination Casaert-Sénéchal  were the fanciers to beat. The result at the end of the season in the national titles: 1st national ace great middle distance KBDB 2011 with “Amalia” and the 2nd national ace middle distance KBDB with “Roche au Faucons.”


For those who don’t know it, the national ace pigeon great middle distance can be won with the best four results on races between 400 km and 650 km but with a total of minimum 1,200 km on the four races.  Casaert-Sénéchal won this ace bird competition with a coefficient of 0.4569%, second is Luc Christiaens (0.8041%), and third Moreels Ruben (0.8550%).


The ace bird for the middle distance can be won with the best five results on races further than Paris up to 450km but with a total of minimum 1,250km on the five races.


Sébastien,  can you tell something more about your ace-birds?  

Sébastien: “Personally, I found the winning of the title national ace great middle distance one of the nicest ace-bird titles a fancier can win. What’s important is that the winning bird has a very good coefficient very early in the racing season, and with the win of the interprovincial race from Vierzon my bird had a superb coefficient very fast. To be clear, my winning bird named first ‘Palme D’Or’ but afterwards I renamed her ‘Amalia.’  I gave the name ‘Palme D’Or’ to her mother. ‘Amalia’ is a lady with a very special character, or I can better say a stubborn character. One of her special moves was that she only wanted to eat on the floor. When I fed her in her box she refused to eat. Also when I coupled her in the second part of the racing season and after a few days  wanted to give her eggs, she refused to accept them. All the other hens accepted the ‘strange’ eggs, but ‘Amalia’ only did what she wanted. A few days later, she laid her own eggs,  and I raced her in the second part of the racing season three times on nest position. Once at the end of brooding, once on babies of five days old, and once on babies of 12 days old. On that last race, she scored her last needed top result to win the national ace bird title.


“My second ace, ‘Roche Aux Foucons,’ is also a hen. This hen was bred by my very good friend Joost De Smeijter from Melden. This ace won first prizes on Angerville, Toury, Orleans and Blois. This hen was also given another name. Now she is named ‘Jackeline’ and is now housed in the breeding lofts of Herbots brothers. As already mentioned, this ace was bred by Joost De Smeijter and this out of two original Willem De Bruyn pigeons.”


Sébastien, if I’m not wrong you put a lot of energy in your stock birds?  

Sébastien:  ”The quality in your breeding loft is very important. The breeding loft is the mainstay of every loft.  If it goes wrong in the breeding loft, then you don’t need to expect a lot of top results in the racing loft. My stock cocks are all housed in breeding boxes. Every important stock cock has two important stock hens . Every day each hen stays one hour with the cock. A couple of eggs go under the racers, and they breed that couple of youngsters. The other couple of youngsters are bred by the breeding couple itself. By following this system, I have double the number of youngsters very quickly.  

“One of the main breeders is without any question ‘Stan’ (B04-9134039). ‘Stan’ won the 2nd  semi-national Chateauroux 11,526 birds, 2nd Bourges against 379 birds, 2nd Chateauroux against 880 birds and became later in the breeding loft father of top birds like ‘Slim’ (1st semi-nat. Chateauroux 7,495b. – fastest of 19,021b.) – ‘Sisi’ (1st Bourges, 1st Pithiviers), ‘Seb’ (1st Etampes, 1st Orleans), and ‘Steff’ (7th nat. Bourges 22,499b.). But also in the second generation the blood of ‘Stan’ is very important. A grandchild is ‘Suzy’ (4th national La Souterraine 18,973b.) and a great grandchild is ‘Stecy’ (8th national Bourges 22,499b. and 6th national ace great middle distance KBDB 2009).


“Another important breeder is certainly ‘VIP’ (3172131-99). ‘VIP’ was bred in the loft of the famous champion Georges Bolle (Kortemark) and this out of a brother x sister coupling namely out ‘Generaal’(1st national Cahors 1996) x daughter 1st national Limoges 22,508b.). ‘VIP’became father of  ‘Vince’(1st semi-nat. La Souterraine 5,621b. – 4th national Limoges 15,507b.) – ‘Vera’(3rd interprov. Chateauroux 3,391b.) and three very good daughters ‘Veronique.’ ‘Veronica,’ ‘Victory.’’ Those three daughters won together the 1st place national championship KBDB middle distance young birds 2007.”


Which strains are the best on your breeding loft?

Sébastien:  “When I moved in 2006 to Russeignies I just brought my stock birds with me. My breeding loft was built up with pigeons from my father Maurice Casaert, Georges Bolle, Erik Limbourg and Gaby Vandenabeele. For years I have been very successful with the crosses of these strains. In the past years I invested successfully in pigeons of De Smeijter-Restiaen, Philips Geert and Gaston Van De Wouwer.


“Every year I invest in new birds, and I go most of the times back to the breeding lines with which I have already been successful. At the auction of Erik Limbourg, I bought together with some friends a few pigeons. One of these birds was ‘Geert’ and he became father of my 1st national ace great middle distance, this crossed with a hen from Gaston Van De Wouwer. Because I was so successful with the Van De Wouwer pigeons I went at the end of this year again to this champion. I went home with some birds in my basket. I hope I will be as successful as before, but of course the pigeon sport is not that easy, and also I have to wait to see if I bought good breeding material.”


You race your race birds as well on widowhood as on total widowhood?

 Sébastien:   “Indeed, the season 2011 was started with 16 couples on total widowhood, 28 cocks on classic widowhood, and 24 hens also raced on classic widowhood.
“The group which is raced on total widowhood is coupled at the end of November. They could breed a couple of youngsters and there was no second coupling anymore before the start of the racing season. This group was raced weekly on the middle distance and some of them went to 500km. On the middle distance, the hens and cocks are weekly basketted.  Once they had two nights of basket, the cocks went every two weeks on a race.


“The cocks that are raced on pure widowhood were coupled at the end of November. They received the eggs of the stock birds and they bred their youngsters. These widowers were coupled again just before the start of the racing season, at the beginning of April, and could brood two days. Then they were on widowhood and were basketted every 14 days and this on races to 850km.


“The hens which are raced on pure widowhood were coupled in mid- December. Also here I replaced their eggs with eggs of the stockbirds. They breed a couple of youngsters and were not coupled any more just before the start of the racing season.”

If you need to take care about all those different groups then you need a lot of time, but you still go out to work.  How do you do that?

Sébastien: “I must say that with a little organization everything is possible. Maybe you will not believe it, but no bird trains in the morning. I finish work at 2pm and from that moment all my birds train. I feed two times a day. Early in the morning, before I go to work, and after their training. Together with my son Hugo we are a very good team. I also have to thank Bernard Henry for cleaning lofts, basketting birds, tossing birds.  We can always count on him and that is very important.


“Where my feeding system is concerned, I have full trust in a fixed system. I follow the system of brand Elite which is a 3-phase system. I work with the mixtures “Recup,” “Build Up,” and “Energy.” Here’s my schedule:

Breeding boxes
with one cock
and two hens

BE10-9039333

BE10-4281810

Noyon 515 Pig. : 8,9,20,32,33,34,42,45,47,51,66,67,71,…  27/49

Ecouen 550 Pig. : 5,14,20,26,30,33,34,35,39,40,44,46,49,50,51,…. 38/64

Angerville 618 Pig. : 1,2,6,7,10,11,12,13,16,18,19,20,24,26,27,29,31,34,,50,…  39/55

Angerville (Général) 977 Pig. : 1,2,9,10,14,15,16,17,20,23,24,27,31,37,41,... 39/55

Toury 343 Pig. : 2,5,6,7,10,14,14,16,21,22,38,39,40,….  26/43

Orléans 258 Pig. : 2,3,11,14,16,17,19,21,22,24,28,30,31,35,37,…  17/20

Bourges 901 Pig. : 4,34,52,67,77,80,97,98,….  13/16

Vierzon  I.Prov.11062 Pig. : 129,172,196,283,…  8/8

Bourges PROV 2330 Pig. : 10  1/3

Bourges NAT A 6416 Pig. : 73  1/3

Orléans 312 Pig. : 2,5,6,9,12,…  7/10

Châteauroux 669 Pig. : 9,23,24,45,48,70,….  10/12

Châteauroux PROV 1678 Pig. : 11,29,31,53,58,109,…. 11/12

Limoges  PROV 962 Pig. : 20,38,112,121,126,130,….10/12

Dourdan 326 Pig. : 7,8,12,13,… 8/12

Montauban 915 Pig. :  20,112,…           3/5

Montauban NAT  9091 Pig. : 368,… 2/5

Argenton DHH 458 pig. : 2,9,18,24,31,39,52,… 10/11

Argenton PROV 1017 Pig. : 2,9,17,23,30,40,54,103,… 10/11

Argenton CFW 3826 Pig. : 14,76,134,180,237,282,359,… 10/11

Argenton NAT A 4106 Pig. : 40,186,334,423,… 7/11

Argenton NAT 11001 Pig. : 73,328,619,1142,1320,… 8/11

Blois I.Prov.1184 Pig. : 4,50  2/5

Bourges L-L 333 Pig. : 3,12,13,22,31,36,… 10/17

Bourges PROV 1091 Pig. : 8,29,32,66,78,90,103,113,… 11/17

Bourges CFW 3672 Pig. : 25,65,70,141,171,196,235,266,360,… 13/17

Bourges NAT  9781 Pig. : 54,197,214,404,500,567,682,779,1059,… 11/17

Blois HAINAUT 115 Pig. : 1,4  2/2

Blois INTERPROV 1165 Pig. : 21  1/2

Montrichard 340 Pig. : 1,28,32,36,..  5/9

La Souterraine PROV 256 Pig. : 1  1/3

La Souterraine CFW 1354 Pig. : 6  1/3

La Souterraine NAT A 868 Pig. : 2  1/2

La Souterraine NAT  3562 Pig. : 15  1/3

Noyon 243 Pig. : 5,6,11,19,20,21,26,28,31,35,37,39,42,43,44,45,….  24/39

Ecouen 267 Pig. : 4,11,14,15,17,19,21,22,26,34,37,39,….. 27/45

Angerville LOC 424 Pig. : 2,3,6,13,14,15,21,26,27,30,32,33,34,38,43, …. 32/43

Angerville GEN. 673 Pig. : 2,3,7,15,16,17,23,28,30,33,35,37,39,43,64,65  34/43

Bourges LOC. 357 Pig. : 1,3,4,5,7,11,11,13,21,22,29,30,31,35,38,….. 28/38

Bourges 416 Pig. : 7,16,38,45,50,68  6/8

Vierzon L-LESSINES 457 Pig. : 1,2,8,9,10,15,18,38,39,…. 12/20

D-HAINAUT 1430 Pig. : 1,4,15,16,17,26,29,86,87,… 12/20

PROV 784 Pig. : 1,3,7,8,9,13,14,40,41,… 13/20

INTERPROV. 6659 Pig. : 1,6,28,30,32,64,82,342,343,… 12/20

Bourges L-LESSINES 495 Pig. : 11,14,30,42,50,….  6/9

Dourdan 506 Pig. : 2,8,9,14,27,29,37,… 13/15

Orléans LOCAL 138 Pig. : 1,2,3,4,21  5/7

Orléans  320 Pig. : 1,3,4,5,39  5/7

Châteauroux L-LESSINES 937 Pig. : 6,34,35,36,39,40,42,44,46,52,55,56,74,84….  34/44

Châteauroux PROV 1566 Pig. : 12,43,45,46,50,51,52,56,60,67,71,72,94,126,140,…  36/44

Châteauroux NAT  25263 Pig. : 80,519,556,561,629,639,659,735,823, 981,984,… 28/44