Frederik lives, you could say, right on the language border. Neerheylissem is better known in the region as Hélécine. Born in Tienen, Frederik moved here to Wallonia five years ago together with his wife Zoë and their pride and joy, Finn, just a stone’s throw from Flanders. In fact, he still lives in the region where he was born.
From Goldfinches to Pigeons
Frederik works as a corporate lawyer for a consultancy company based in the Leuven area. Fortunately, he is regularly able to work from home, and business is also less hectic during the summer months. In winter, he usually works from home only one day a week, but during the racing season this can increase to three or four working days per week. This way, his job and a young family can still be perfectly combined with competitive pigeon racing.
The fact that it remains manageable is also because Frederik approaches the sport in a smart way. First, he does not keep many pigeons: 22 hens raced from sprint to long middle-distance competitions. In addition, he works closely with Matthias Coel (Boortmeerbeek). According to Frederik himself, they are “luxury fanciers.” All their breeders are housed in the Motton family garden, where Father Jos takes care of them and fully devotes himself to the breeding loft. This allows Frederik and Matthias to focus 100% on the racing pigeons. Indeed, it is a luxury situation, but a modern and enjoyable way of practicing pigeon racing. Frederik and Matthias would once again like to thank Father Jos for this.
It is a good thing Frederik found a way to combine work, family, and sport, because he is highly competitive by nature. Father Jos was not a pigeon fancier, but he did keep goldfinches. Through two stray pigeons that landed there in 2004, Frederik accidentally got involved in pigeon racing, and later the son would inspire the father as well. A pigeon loft was built above the chicken coop. As a bird enthusiast, Jos met veterinarian Raf Herbots. Frederik once went to watch the pigeons arriving at the Herbots lofts — and he was immediately hooked. Seeing the pigeons return home fascinated him, and a pigeon fancier was born.
Another important mentor for the young Frederik was the late Florent Materne, who supported the youngster with advice and practical help, teaching him the finer points of the sport. In those early years, however, the results were not yet for what the competitive Frederik had hoped.
As mentioned before, Frederik is a winner. Whatever he does, he wants to do it well, and simply participating without aiming for top results does not suit his character. After difficulties caused by bird flu in 2007, he and his father decided to take the sport more seriously. Through a summer job with the Herbots family in 2006 (and many summers afterwards, for which he again wants to thank the Herbots family), he met many more fanciers. Numerous pigeons from Herbots moved to Tienen, but birds were also acquired from fanciers such as Danny Van Avondt (Haacht), Veulemans-Perilleux (Vissenaken), the Houben family (Itegem), Florent Materne (Tienen), and others. Florent paired the newly acquired pigeons.
In 2008, Frederik started competing in his first national races. With the young pigeons, he participated in the four national races, resulting in 12th National Youth Champion 2008 and four mentions among the provincial ace pigeons. Everything kept evolving in an upward line. In 2009, he became 7th National Youth Champion 2009, including two provincial victories, among them a zonal victory from Argenton with yearlings (3rd National Argenton). In 2010, he became 1st National Youth Champion, again with a provincial victory. The following year, he won 2nd National Argenton against 28,000 young pigeons, and in 2013 he achieved 3rd National Gueret against 15,000 yearling pigeons.
Motton-Coel
Through Facebook Messenger, Frederik got to know Matthias Coel while chatting online. Matthias is family at the home of Albert and Francine Derwa-Luxem. What Florent was to Frederik, Albert is to Matthias: his mentor and teacher in the sport. The two young men immediately clicked, and in 2018 they decided to start working together intensively. Thus, the Motton-Coel partnership was born.
Each of them reduced their breeding loft by about half, and the remaining breeders were brought together at Father Jos’s garden loft. Each receives half of the youngsters, and whenever possible they help one another. Breeding and the purchase of new pigeons are done together and in full consultation. Naturally, there must be a strong connection between them, otherwise such an intensive partnership would never work.
That does not mean, however, that they do everything in the same way. Both are individuals with their own opinions. Although they share the same general vision, there are also clear differences between them. Matthias is more of an optimist, whereas Frederik tends to be more pessimistic. Frederik also places more importance on the physical build of a pigeon than Matthias does. In his view, hens should be “small, round little balls” with a short forearm and silky-soft feathers — and if he does not like them, they are quickly removed from the loft.
One gives certain supplements, the other prefers something different. They learn from and listen to each other, yet each continues to follow his own methods. What they clearly share is the same vision of the sport and, of course, the same passion. Working together also makes the sport more enjoyable: they share not only the risks, but also the joy and disappointment. If one encounters a problem, the other immediately steps in to help.
It is hardly surprising that they achieved success at a youthful age. Like all champions, they are perfectionists who always want to win. Of course, they wish each other every success, but at the same time the rivalry between them is relentless — ruthless, yet friendly. After all, nothing is more enjoyable than beating your best friend! Another example of Frederik Motton’s competitive nature is this: when he notices that, for example, Denis Sapin has already clocked a pigeon (Denis lives 15 km ahead in the line of flight), and Frederik realizes he can no longer beat him from behind, the fun is over for him and he simply goes inside for a coffee.
Because the partnership works so well, and to test their pigeons in even more locations, they are now also collaborating with Kristof Daniëls (Diest). Frederik knows Kristof well from his summer-job days with the Herbots family, and when Kristof restarted in the sport, plans were quickly made to have several young pigeons tested each year from his lofts in Diest.
Ona
The first round of youngsters always goes to Matthias, because in the Boortmeerbeek region the young birds can start racing much earlier (in Wallonia the young bird season starts later). From the second round onwards, youngsters are also brought to Neerheylissem.
The partnership quickly started to bear fruit and in 2019, their very first year of collaboration, “Ona” B19-2039650 was born. She became 8th National Ace Pigeon Long Middle Distance KBDB 2020 and later developed into a super breeder. “Ona” originates from Matthias’ old bloodline crossed with “Pricilla-Vinci” (a daughter of “Invictus” x “Pricilla” — 4th National Ace Pigeon Long Middle Distance — from Albert Derwa), paired to a daughter of the outstanding breeder “Torres” from Davy Tournelle (Rummen).
“Ona” herself became a top breeding hen. She is the mother of the 16th National Ace Pigeon Sprint 2025 and the grandmother of at least four National Ace Pigeons. Among them are “Fiona” B22-2098591, 19th National Ace Pigeon Sprint 2023, and “Liona” B24-2101838, 5th National Ace Pigeon Long Middle-Distance Young Birds 2024. In 2020, they received several offers for “Ona”, but decided to keep her, and since then she has been paired each year to numerous top cocks from leading fanciers.
One of those top fanciers with whom Frederik and Matthias collaborated in breeding was Davy Tournelle. In the summer of 2021, “Ona” was paired to “Tiësto’s Hero” (himself also 13th National Ace Pigeon Long Middle Distance and a full brother to the 3rd National Ace Pigeon Long Middle Distance, meanwhile also a top breeder at the Tournelle lofts). They returned with two eggs, from which two cocks were bred. One became the father of “Liona,” while the other became the father this year of “Olympic Félona” B22-2098486. Despite their youthful age, both cocks have already produced many other excellent pigeons. For example, Matthias’ best young bird in 2025 was a full sister to “Liona”, while the other cock became the grandfather of the 1st Zonal Bourges against 3,400 young pigeons at Matthias’ loft.
The white-headed cock “Ronan” B25-2056741 is also a grandchild of “Ona”. This year he became 6th National Ace Pigeon Sprint Young Birds and 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon. During the first weeks he was always among Frederik’s very first arrivals with the youngsters, which is why he was selected to continue racing in the sprint category. He won five pure 1st prizes and became 6th National Ace Pigeon with a coefficient of 2.55 over six races. He also contributed to the results for the 1st National Championship Sprint Young Birds 2025.
The other ace pigeon, “Olympic Félona,” is likewise a grandchild of “Ona.” She became 4th National Ace Pigeon Short Middle Distance Old Birds 2025 and 2nd Olympiad Pigeon Old Birds Dortmund 2026. During her racing career she won 40 prizes, including 27 times by ten and 9 times by hundred (1st Melun against 470 pigeons, 1st Toury against 768 pigeons, 3rd Lorris against 749 pigeons, 3rd Toury against 754 pigeons, 7th Lorris against 1,475 pigeons, 2nd Bourges against 177 pigeons, 1st Momignies against 368 pigeons, 10th Nevers against 3,058 pigeons).
She was a late youngster in 2022 and only raced a handful of times in her birth year. Last year they did not consider her good enough to move to the breeding loft, as she had only flown four times by hundred at that stage. However, because of her pedigree (on her mother’s side she is also a half-sister to the 5th World Best Pigeon Allround 2023), Frederik and Matthias decided to keep her on the racing loft for another season — with the above-mentioned results consequently.
The Motton system
Frederik started the 2025 season with two rounds of youngsters, each consisting of 35 birds. His racing team consisted of 22 hens raced on the traditional widowhood system. Towards the end of the season, several hens are allowed to pair up and sit on nests, after which the best ones are retired. For the 2026 season, there are still 8 old hens left, which is quite a lot. Usually, he only keeps 3 or 4 old hens, but the yearling team was so strong that more were allowed to stay.
The pigeons are paired around Saint Nicholas Day. The first round is transferred quickly so that the second round follows soon after. As mentioned earlier, the first round goes to Coel, so when speaking about Frederik’s “first round,” this is in fact already the second breeding round. The youngsters from Frederik’s first round are raced on the sliding-door system. His second round consists exclusively of hens, and they are paired with old cocks (the remaining partners of the old and yearling racing hens are used for this), like the method used by Stephan Machiels.
During the winter, the pigeons in Neerheylissem remain indoors in the loft. From mid-February onwards, they are allowed outside again for the first time. At the beginning of April, the old birds are taken 3 to 4 times to Gembloux (25 km) for training tosses. The youngsters start late; only at the end of May do they go into the basket for the first training toss. They are trained around ten times as well, also up to Gembloux as the furthest point.
Throughout the season, both the old birds and the youngsters are taken weekly for training tosses to Gembloux, preferably on Wednesdays (although this may also be Tuesday depending on the weather). For this too, Frederik can always rely on his father. Upon returning from these training tosses, their partners are waiting for them. This serves as their motivation, because before basketing for the actual race, the partner is no longer shown.
During the day, the hens stay in the aviary, partly to prevent them from pairing with one another. At night, they move to the night loft where, for the same reason, a rolling-floor system was installed last year.
At home, they train once a day, normally in the morning. Frederik allows them to train freely and does not force them to stay airborne with a flag or similar methods. In excessively hot or severe weather, they are not trained at all.
From early March until 21 June, the youngsters are darkened from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 a.m. The hens darkened from early April until the end of June. From mid-July onwards, Frederik starts using artificial lighting until the final race in mid-September, keeping the lights on until 11:00 p.m.
When the pigeons return from a race, they first receive water and are then allowed together with their partners. How long they stay together can vary, but they are always separated again on the same day. This is done by instinct and feeling; sometimes a hen has more need for rest after a race than for an overly eager cock. Once the sexes are separated again, they are fed.
Frederik is not a fancier who works according to a strict routine; the lofts in Neerheylissem do not run like Swiss clockwork. Everything is done by feeling and according to how things fit into daily life. Anyone who has young children at home, or has had them, knows that they often determine the schedule rather than anyone else.
When the pigeons are performing less well, it may happen that the teams are switched around. Birds intended for sprint races may suddenly fly middle-distance races, and vice versa. In extremely hot weather, the pigeons are often raced over shorter distances or even kept at home altogether. In such cases, however, they are still shown their cock. Sometimes they are also taken for short training tosses, simply to maintain the routine.
Feeding and medication
As far as feeding is concerned, we can keep it short: Motton follows the feeding schedules of Aidi. In the past, he often had the problem that the hens ate less eagerly from Thursday onwards. Since switching to the Aidi system, this issue has disappeared. During winter, he feeds once a day; in summer, twice a day — all according to the Aidi regime.
Frederik has a special relationship with his veterinarian, who is in fact his cousin on his mother’s side, Simon Cans, five years younger than Frederik himself. Simon comes from Landen but nowadays he runs his practice, Neornivet, in Paal (Beringen).
Simon is a young veterinarian and a strong advocate of vaccination, and like Frederik, he is not a fan of treating blindly with medication. Motton fully agrees with this approach, and the family connection makes the cooperation even more special. After all, it is much easier to discuss things openly or ask for extra explanations with your cousin than with a stranger. Simon’s various vaccination schedules are followed for the breeders, youngsters, old birds, and yearlings (Rota, paratyphoid, paramyxovirus, and pox). All medication is administered on Simon’s advice. Simon’s Trichoryza drops (the “green drop,” which is the same as the yellow drop) are given twice a week — once in the drinking water and once over the feed — and during the last three years no tricho powder has been used anymore because the pigeons consistently tested free of trichomoniasis.
If coccidiosis or worms are detected in the droppings, the pigeons receive a blue tablet (endo/ecto), also provided by Simon.
As for supplements, Frederik has his favorites from several assorted brands. The youngsters very often receive Wonder Pigeon/Wonder Tonic, while the old birds and yearlings frequently get Lysocur from Comed. There is also always a bottle of Sedochol from Herbovet available, used to moisten the feed after races, after which it is dried with Protein Plus from Backs. In addition, Tollyamin from Schroeder is regularly administered during the season, as well as the herbal tea from Versele-Laga.
And so, we conclude our conversation with an enthusiastic young pigeon fancier — an intelligent and driven man who approaches pigeon racing in a modern and efficient way. For that reason, we are convinced that the name Frederik Motton will continue to be heard and read frequently in the years to come.
Loft
Winners
