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The magician on the middle- and semi-long distance in Antwerp |
The first time I met Jos Vercammen was in the early nineties. I was invited as a young boy to his beautiful place at the Grotehoeveweg in Vremde, near the well known town named Lier. Already that time he was one of the best racers in the Antwerp area on the short –and middle distance. Jos had a very busy fruit and vegetable wholesales company and decided at the age of 42 years to quit working and only racing his pigeons. Now the whole family takes part in his hobby. The family of birdsJos started to build up his family with birds out of the line of Stoces, Winterslag and Janssen Brothers, Arendonk. In 1979 he brought 2 grandchildren of the Janssen Brothers phenomenal basic cock “019” into his breeding loft trough William Geerts. These 2 birds brought the racing loft up to a higher level. Jos’s famous “Yasmine”, one of the best hens ever raced on the middle distance in Belgium, she won 8x 1sts was a descendant from those “019” pigeons. Also from William Geerts, the Meulemans-birds made their entry. “Shamrock”, 5th National ace-pigeon KBDN and “Mannequin”, 4th National ace-pigeon KBDB are coming out of this line. Furthermore, birds from Alois & Luc Van Den Plas, Rijkevorsel were very successful for Jos. Out of this loft he bought the Arie Van Den Hoek line. In 1987, Jos bought at the total sale from Alfons Slaets, Lint, a bird called “De Panter”. It was one of the best birds flying that time in the Antwerp area on the middle distance. He was a grandson from the famous “Panter” from Theo Gilbert, Zulte and was bought by Raoul Verstraete, Oostakker. Buying “De Panter” was one the best things he ever did. Almost all the dark birds in the loft are descendants of this miraculous bird. The last birds imported with a lot of success were 2 direct Vandenabeeles. Racing systemJos races with cocks and hens on Widowhood. I will explain the two systems he is racing separate. After the racing season the old cocks and yearlings are recoupled at the end of August for a sitting period of 8 days. After these 8 days the eggs are removed and there is no second coupling foreseen. The reason is that Jos couples the birds so late that there is time left for raising a couple of youngsters because the birds have to be ready for breeding a couple of youngsters in the winter. Different then what some other very good fanciers in the area do is that the old birds are staying in their lofts during the whole moulting time. In the earlier years Jos also moved his widowers into an aviary, but he can not find a big difference when he is not doing it. The lofts are very airy and the birds can be liberated every day, which is very important according to Jos. The widowers are coupled around Christmas Day for raising a couple of youngsters. When the babies are about 14 days old, the hens are moved to an aviary and the cocks have to raise their 2 babies themselves. Also a big difference into Geerinckx’ method is that is no second coupling at the beginning of April. According to Jos there are 2 reasons for. The first of all, he can race his widowers 2 weeks longer at the end of the season, because they don’t moult that much feathers then they were sitting on eggs for a second time. A second opinion, and an important one is that there is no difference in the condition of the birds at the beginning of the season. Some fanciers say they let their birds sitting on eggs for a second time at the beginning of April, so the “form” is coming a bit later. Jos thinks that there is no difference and for having a good condition a good health is the most important thing. The hens are not shown anymore. Jos said that he didn’t see any difference doing it in the past year 2004. In preparation of the new season Jos always give a treatment against paratyphus, followed by a vaccination. In March he also gives a tea-cure. He uses “Prange-Suppe” from Dr. Schwidde, which is a tea made up by the German Superstar Gunther Prange. Jos gives a cure for 8 days and during the racing season 2 days a week. The evening after the arrival of the birds and the day before entering. The racing-hens are also coupled around Christmas Day together with the Widowhood cocks. A small difference is that the hens are removed from the loft into an aviary for about 4 weeks when the youngsters are about 14 days old, so the cocks have to raise the youngsters. Also another difference is that the hens are recoupled about the April 1 for a sitting period of 5 to 6 days. After then the eggs are removed and the hens are on the Widowhood. In 2004 Jos thought it would be better to change his system and he left the hens into an open aviary. It was an experiment that will not be repeated in 2005. The hens were having not enough rest and were always disturbed by other birds. In 2005 he will go back to his old racing system which means a loft with 3 sections. 1 central section with boxes and 2 sections for keeping the hens calm, where they only can sit into a small box. The hens are raced every week. Before entering for the race the cocks are shown for about one hour and this is repeated every week. At the arrival time they can make love to each other for a couple of hours, but they never stay until the next morning. The hens are raced until the beginning of July. Then Jos couples them again with only one purpose, the national race from Argenton, the 2nd week of August. At that time they mostly are sitting on babies from about 8 days old. On this position Jos is entering them for their last race of the season, and every year he is having a lot of success on this position. Some References on other loftsAlso in other lofts the Vercammen pigeons prove their quality. The mother of Jef Houbens’ best pigeon at the moment, “The Pinocchio” is a daughter from “Tiffany”(pure Vercammen). He won 1st against 9864 and 4740 birds from Argenton. A lot of other good flyers at Houben’s loft are descendants of pigeons from Jos Vercammen. M. Van Gastel won the 1st against 16154 birds from Tours with a pure Vercammen. This bird was sold to Ludo Claessens, Putte for an enormous amount. “The Tiger”, one of Erik Berckmoes’ best old birds was bred out of a half brother of “Martina”. The last few years the Vercammen birds were responsible for a lot of National and provincial victories at other lofts against an average of more then 8,000 birds. Some 2004 championships1st General Champion Fondclub Antwerpen (provincial) with old birds, yearlings and youngsters 1st General champion Union Antwerpen yearlings semi-long distance 2nd National Champion BDS youngsters semi-long distance 4th National ace pigeon KBDB semi-long distance with “Porto” 5 ace pigeons in Union Antwerpen 1st National ace pigeon “Ave Regina” semi-long distance with “Porto” 3rd and 4th National ace pigeon BDS semi-long distance. In the pictureWe want to put 2 exceptional actual breeders in the picture. The first is “The Deco” 6387351/2001. He is a son of “The Iron Lady”, with 5 x 1st, 10 x 2nd and 1st National ace pigeon BDS middle distance, one of the best hens Jos ever had. This “Deco” is together with “Mariska” 499/02 father of “The Porto” 6287006/2003 and grandfather to “Athena”. “The Porto” was 4th National ace pigeon middle distance KBDB 2004 1st National ace pigeon “Ave Regina” middle distance 2004 3rd National ace pigeon BDS middle distance 2004 His results : Toury 1233/2 975/4 807/5 1782/17 Dourdan 712/2 502/3 1475/4 3075/8 1554/6 Bourges 367/3 1904/7 5708/7 14207/21 “Athena” was 3rd National ace pigeon BDS middle distance 2004 Her results: Orleans 1958/12 17057/109 Bourges 1065/8 Argenton 649/2 3088/11 8901/15 23078/46 Another top-breeder is “The Barco” 6387350/2001. He is a son of “Vanessa”, who won the 1st provincial of Tours herselve. “Barco” is also a brother to “Melissa”, who won 9 x 1st and 2 x 1st provincial on Chateauroux. “Barco” is father of “The Bosko” 6287052/2003. He won : Vierzon 206/8 617/13 3240/51 Bourges 367/2 1904/6 5708/6 14207/20 Chateauroux 690/6 4395/9
Eddie Grootjans |