Peter Casteleyn, owner and manager of a successful business producing pancakes and poffertjes is actually getting emotional. In the pigeon area, during the marathon races which are important to him, the wind has been against him the last few years to clock real early pigeons, in the commercial area, a fierce fire caused a lot of damage and a complete restart of the company had to be done, but in the meantime, a brand new company building in the industrial zone not so far from the house shines, and also in the private area, some other big worries caused dark clouds above this family. All this takes energy, eats away at the emotions and then success in pigeon racing is a very welcome relief.
Peter has been a real pigeon fancier for a long time but the busy business does not leave much time for the care. He found in Gilbert Van Parijs, an experienced pigeon fancier, an excellent care giver for his large colony of pigeons. The loft installations are spick and span, everything is in place for the care to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, but still it is an almost full day’s work to take care of the colony and also to achieve top results.
And the energy and motivation that Gilbert still squeezes out of his 78-year-old pigeons provokes the national comment “he is still like a young foal”. Fond of pigeons and with years of experience and results on his book, Gilbert is for Peter the ideal caretaker. Together, they have improved a lot and since a few years, they are always in the top of the results and the annual rankings…which is a more than successful collaboration.
“Leander” wins both a 1st prize nationally and the national ace pigeon title KBDB
The ultimate, that is surely breeding and playing a national ace pigeon that also has a national victory to its credit. Everyone knows that these pigeons are extremely rare. If we look at the history in Belgium, we see “Armando” (J. Verschoot), “Melissa” (K&R Platteeuw) and “Finne” (W. Daniëls), legendary pigeons! When we look at the heavy long distance, we go much further back in history. If we are not mistaken, we only end up in 1997, where “Kleine Didi” (E. Devos) took care of this heroic double.
Anno 2024 we have a new flying miracle in this category. “Leander” of Peter Casteleyn and top groomer Gilbert Van Parijs succeeded in the quasi-impossible.
Who is “Leander?” Well, this flying virtuoso is of the nervous type, a real wringer in the hand. In terms of construction, we see a rather small pigeon of the slender type. He excels in terms of plumage quality. His penetrating gaze also speaks volumes. His wing is well ventilated. In short, he has everything to shine.
His pedigree is one that is composed of the strong West Flemish blood of day long distance pigeons and pigeons from the heavy long distance. On the fathers side we find the pigeons Antoine & Rudy Desaer coupled with the heavy long distance strain of Gerard Latruwe. The mother is laced with blood from Jos Joosen, Ludwig Vandecasteele, and John Debaene via a hen from Silveer & Patrick Colpaert.
Effort and motivation that are rewarded
The commitment and motivation that Peter and Gilbert show together results, that much is now clear, each in his field. Peter sets the broad outlines, coaches and directs and supports where necessary, and Gilbert is the man who puts the fine cogs together and makes them tour smoothly. His motivation is still huge, he can’t let it go and the way he talks about the results of the pigeons and this pigeon in particular is to command respect.
When asked about care and preparation, Gilbert was very clear. “I am still a fancier of the old system” says Gilbert. “I can bring pigeons in a good basic health (and for this I sporadically call on the vet without exaggerating in this). I see when a pigeon gets or is in condition and then it is the preparation that is crucial.”
Caretaker Gilbert feeds the pigeons in a full tray system. In the evening, the feeders are removed at 6 pm. The cocks are trained in the morning. They train once a day. There is no real training in Zwevezele. The cocks are fed a mixture for young pigeons supplemented with a widowhood mixture. For the rest, there are not many kapsones in the system.
The system with the youngsters is similar to that of the old pigeons. There are two points of difference. First, the youngsters are first darkened and then lighted. Secondly, both sexes join the race and the sliding door is used as motivation.
“Leander” shines on Agen and Narbonne
Agen presented itself as a difficult flight. That was immediately clear with the rather slow arrivals. At Zwevezele, they had reserved 19 pigeons for this flight, including “Leander”. Peter and Gilbert did not have to wait very long. At 20h38 “Leander” stormed into the loft. An arrival they will not easily forget at Zwevezele. They won a 2nd provincial (1,786 pigeons) and an 11th national (7,396 pigeons); a strong performance of this yearling cock. Peter and Gilbert immediately reserved this winner for Narbonne. In between, he flew a speed race from Arras (100 km), and then followed Narbonne. We won’t repeat the story of the release. Let’s just say it was a particularly tough edition. This was also noticeable in the arrivals. One pigeon signed home on the day of the release in France. Also on the other day, it went agonizingly slow.
Gilbert had already checked the arrivals on the computer and then decided to start taking care of the remaining pigeons. When the cell phone indicated the arrival of a pigeon, Gilbert thought especially of the one latecomer from Bergerac. He opened the box of this cock, but the pigeon flew to another residential box. It was “Leander.” This little blue wringer had provided a true feat. “Leander” flew himself to the 1st national of 5553 pigeons.
Narbonne also marked the end of his short racing career. “Leander” had outclassed every Belgian pigeon that day!
With an 11th National Agen 7,396 yearling and 1st Nat. Narbonne 5,553 pigeons, “Leander” was crowned 1st Nat. ace pigeon heavy long-distance yearling KBDB and 1st European yearling pigeon heavy long-distance 2 races.
A dream comes true
Colony Peter and Gilbert experienced the performance of “Leander” as a dream. Of course, the tandem had already had a taste of success on several occasions. But this, this was truly unique. The expression “once in a lifetime” probably applies here.
The level of the racing team at Zwevezele is solid. Peter and Gilbert are looking forward to 2025. The team of yearlings looks very promising and also the good old pigeons remain on board. It will be important for Gilbert to get the necessary momentum back, but we have no doubts about that. We want to wish Peter and Gilbert all the best for next season. We are looking forward to new top results!
During the winter months, “Leander” was sold to Jo Herbots. There in Halle-Booienhoven this exceptional marathon pigeon will be allowed to demonstrate his skills on the breeding loft. The future looks very promising for “Leander”.
Loft
Winner
