Jos Vercammen: the origin of a champion loft

Making a team

Jos Vercammen was 17 years old when he started keeping carrier pigeons. The first years he learnt “the trick” on the short distance races. But Jos had more ambition. At the end of the 70’s he bought from Herbots descendants of his Stoces pigeons(who were almost pure Janssen Bros., Arendonk). Also a grandchild from “Ieverige” was purchased. In 1979 he bought 4 Arie Van Den Hoek pigeons(through A. and L. Van De Plas, Rijkevorsel). In 1980 Jos bought birds out of children of the most famous bird in pigeon history, the “019” from the Janssen Bros.,  Arendonk. In those days the pigeons of the Janssen Bros. still possessed their superior breeding qualities. The last years the quality of the Janssen birds went down because they stopped racing(and so couldn’t select their birds anymore).

Jos Vercammen formed one family with these birds. He crossed and raced them. And only the very best could earn a place on the breeding loft. On this way the loft became stronger year by year.

Best thing

In 1988 Jos bought a bird that would change his loft forever. He bought “Panter 506/86”, a grandson of “Panter” from Theo Gilbert. This black cock brought the Vercammen birds up to a higher level. In the years to come “Panter” became a very dominant breeder. He became one of the best breeders in the world. His breeding qualities go further from generation to generation.

Basic pigeon Nr. 1 "Panter"(B86-6056506)

In 1990 “Yasmine” was born. A descendant from famous “019” Janssen Bros., Arendonk. This remarkable hen was each year 1st ace-pigeon in a strong federation. Especially with head wind she was unbeatable. In a famous Belgian newspaper she was once described as “best middle distance hen of Belgium”.

The “speed” of the “Panter” line together with the “power” of the “Yasmine” line developed a type of bird that could perform in any kind of weather and distance. Racing from 100 kilometres or 800? Racing in bad weather, in hard weather or under easy circumstances? The birds could handle it all.

The “Panter-Yasmine dynasty” became worldfamous. They performed not only on their loft but also with other fanciers. Well known “Mister Tours”(a.o. 1° National NPO Tours) from Ludo Claessens is a product of the “Panter” and “Yasmine” family. The same for “Pinocchio”(1° s.-national Argenton) of J.L.N. Houben, Itegem.

 Unbeatable with headwind: "Yasmine"(B90-6244831)

New reinforcement

At the end of the 90’s the loft of Jos Vercammen was completely built around “Panter” and “Yasmine”. It was time to bring some new blood in the squad. It was not easy to find material that could improve the birds. Therefore he introduced some original birds from Louis Wouters, ‘s Gravenwezel. And also 2 direct Vandenabeeles. These birds were almost all “bull’s-eye shots”.

And in 2002 some original Louis Van Hove, Merksplas pigeons were brought in(via Schwidde). Louis Van Hove was called the “Olympiad man”. His birds were mostly from Janssen Bros., Arendonk.

Now you’ve got a image of the modern Vercammen bird. It are birds that can perform very consistenly during a long period. Therefore such a high number of ace-pigeons are yearly born in Vremde. The birds also aren't afraid of difficult weather or strong head wind. The competitors of Vercammen say that on that the moment he is on his best.

 Topbreeder "Beckham"(B01-6387174)

Something special

The birds of Jos Vercammen have a special skill. Something that other birds usually not possess. They have the quality to easily give further the talent of their parents. So also in 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation the descendants keep performing. That’s probably the reason why his birds are doing it so well on other lofts. Like mentioned top birds from Ludo Claessens and J.L.N Houben are descendants from Jos Vercammen pigeons. But that’s not all. All over the world people have great results with the Vercammen birds: USA, the Netherlands, China, Belgium, Poland, Taiwan, Thailand, Germany, Slovenia,… For instance, Mr. Jos De Ridder won in 2008 1° national Blois against no less than 66,762 pigeons!! This bird was partly a Vercammen bird. In the Netherlands different national NPO races have been won by offspring of Vercammen birds. In the USA multiple prestigious races have been won by Vercammen birds. And so on and on. Remarkable: The most of the time the birds were crossings(so own blood x Vercammen blood). This proves again the Vercammen bird is ideal to cross. Probably because of the fact that the birds of Jos Vercammen form one family. Each bird is related to each other.

 Superbreeder "Barco"(B01-6387350)

Proof

In the frame underneath you can find some results people achieved with off spring of the Vercammen birds. This is just a short overwiew. There are many many more of these results to be found!

Website

Jos Vercammen has also got a nice website. You can find it on WWW.HOKJOSVERCAMMEN.COM. Here you can find more information about his top birds of yesterday and today. It’s also possible to read article in different languages. And the site also possess a “News” section. This is the most interesting part of his website Here you can find almost weekly useful information about the Vercammen loft. In the season they tell you about their results. After the season it goes about their breeders, way of breeding, “stunning” newsfacts,…

Certainly worth a visit!

 Screenshot of Vercammen's site

Wilhelm Brocks