# Emiel DeWeerdt of Kourtemark



## toilco (Aug 1, 2008)

Imagine yourself riding your two-wheeled bike down a very old Belgium road about forty years ago. The ride you will admit is very unstable, shaky to say the least. Now try to carry with you four very, very valuable eggs in your pocket. How valuable you ask? They are worth approximately one month’s salary. Are you just a little hesitant to continue riding? I don't blame you. However, I know of someone who completed this ride and founded his family of famous pigeons with those eggs. The gentleman's name is EMIEL DeWeerdt of Kourtemark, Belgium. But, more about this infamous bicycle ride later in the article.

Right from the beginning of our discussion it was apparent to me that the success this loft has enjoyed is truly due to a team effort by the entire family. Emiel reinforced this fact by always making reference to "us", "we", and "our" during conversations.



BACKGROUND

As I mentioned earlier some of Emiel's beginnings in the sport were rather original and the following anecdote just a trifle unorthodox. When reminiscing about his first pigeons he told us that they were part of a wedding dowry. He received four pigeons from his father-in-law or as Emiel so affectionately states it," I got four birds and a beautiful blonde". All this took place in 1947. 

These four birds formed the basis of a family, which scored well at short distances. They were exhausted after 300 km. In time, Emiel decided to take part in both the mid-fond and fond races. It was then when he made the decision that was to form the nucleus of the famous DeWeerdt Family of pigeons. He went to the top-winning loft, that year in and year out enjoyed success at all race points. This loft belonged to Charles Van der Espt. In order to purchase from van der Espt. Emiel had to put aside his earnings as a clerk until he accumulated 5,000 Belgium Francs. This along with another 5,000 Belgium Francs from his father represented a month’s earnings. The 10,000 Belgium Francs purchased him "Four Eggs". That's right four eggs and we think our purchases today are expensive. It once again proves to us that if you want quality you will have to pay for it. These eggs he very gingerly drove home on his bicycle. This is the memorable ride that I mentioned at the beginning of the article. Only 3 of the eggs hatched but they were sufficient to produce Champions within two years. This was the beginning of a great career. In 1967 the decision was made to go back to van der Espt. For more.


SELECTIONS

At the end of the season it was the practice that all three DeWeerdts, Emiel, Bernard and Freddy would scrutinize all of the young birds.

They each rated every pigeon giving it a mark if they felt it should remain or a score of zero if it was to be culled.

For a bird to remain it must have had at least two marks in other wards two of the three fanciers must have approved of the pigeon. In this way there seemed to be an excellent check and balance and avoided any favourites that might otherwise be kept. It also provided for a lot of dialogue, which definitely stimulates both interest and knowledge. I dare say that most, if not all of us fanciers would benefit, if we were to have two excellent pigeon flyers to assist us annually with our culling. During the winter Emiel and his two sons, Fred and Bernard, decided on the next years matings.

This was done on paper. When the birds became too closely related it was decided that they needed a viable cross.

They chose Marcel Desmet who had pure Stichelbauts. Here they purchased two sisters, which they chose from twenty to twenty-five hens. The sire of these hens was First Prize National Limoges and his sire was an International Winner at Barcelona. Before leaving,

Marcel told Emiel that they had better take yet another sister, a very small blue pied. After a very short period this cross-proved to be outstanding, especially the very small blue pied. Marcel had told Emiel that the "babies" which he referred to the very small ones, were the best for the long distance races.


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## toilco (Aug 1, 2008)

METHODS OF BREEDING

I believe one of the highest compliments that can be bestowed on a fancier is to be asked to mate one's birds. Bernard DeWeerdt has been asked by fanciers to visit and actually mate their birds. One fancier paid Bernard's flight to England in order to benefit from his expertise in this area. The results were very good. I asked him what he considers when mating birds for others. Bernard said that he mates birds for others that are only from his, the DeWeerdt, stock.

His reason for this is that you need the experience with the bloodlines. Bernard felt that you must know the "family of birds and the origin in order to mate them properly".

The DeWeerdt's do not believe in close inbreeding (i.e.) brother to sister, and favour linebreeding. They have had good success with birds that are related back to their third or fourth generations.

The colour of the birds has no bearing on the matings. 

they take no notice of the eye and have never paid attention to it when choosing mates.

After winning First International Barcelona an eye sign expert told Bernard what bird to mate it to according to eye sign. Bernard did just the opposite with excellent results. If a bird is a little on the large side they will try to choose a bird that is medium in size and build rather than another large bird or small one.

In Belgium there are advocates of inbreeding, others of line breeding, and still the fanciers who believe in judicial crossing. If there was ever any doubt about this then a thorough reading of the newest book out entitled "THE ELITE" should rectify any discrepancies.

The DeWeerdt's success has stemmed from linebreeding. When they do bring in a bird it has to fit their criteria. Generally, it has one parent as a DeWeerdt bird, and the other must be either a top racer in International competition, or a top breeder. 

The DeWeerdt family is in a very unique position in that their loft is among the top lofts in Belgium and therefore they may choose just what they are going to bring into their loft. 

They choose only the very best in Belgium when they consider it necessary to add new blood.

Emiel and Bernard felt that to only cross pigeons would be very dangerous and very soon lead to disaster.

You must have patience and really know the value of your own bloodlines.

In the last twenty years they have only introduced three pigeons into their lofts. Even these introductions usually have DeWeedt bloodlines in them such as the hen from a brother of P. Lemahieu"s provincial winner (Limoges) when it was paired to a daughter of "Kristof" off their famous "Filip".

The Results that this loft has compiled over the years is phenomenal and ranks them amongst the very top lofts in Belgium. In 1984 they were winners of the most coveted title, "West European Super Marathon" and First "Europe Cup".

"What is the West European Super Marathon?" For this Marathon you must nominate two pigeons in the following long distance events; Pau, Barcelona, Marseille, and Perpignan. Bernard told us that, "you must win top prizes with your nominated pigeon or you will not win".

In 1984, they were 4th International Pau with their 1st Nominated pigeon,

210th International at Barcelona with 1st Nominated pigeon,

120th Marseille with 2nd Nominated Bird,

and 100th Perpignan with 1st Nominated bird.

These results enabled them to win the West European Super Marathon. In 1987 they won General National Championship of Belgium KBDB.

To enter the Marathon you pay an entry fee. There were 400 fanciers who participated in this championship. If you have the first nominated bird you get 400 points, with the second person getting 399 etc. There are sub-competitions, which again the DeWeerdt's did very well in. Emiel likes to see his birds "in the top one percent". He also told me that his International and National winners are kept and that he resists all of the very tempting offers. This is a decision that he has never regretted. Interestingly enough I just finished reading an article on Andre VanBruane and he mentions that he should never have sold his International winner. Such are the decisions that one generally does not get a second chance at.

This loft has many winners and top prize winning birds in both National and International races.

"Spiritus" is a real favourite and ranks among the very best in the world. Here are his results; '77 he won 1st Club Cahors (234 birds),

12th National Cahors (4,372 birds),

1st Club Limoges (328 birds) 40th National Limoges (9,674 birds)

And the next year '78 1st Prize National Cahors (4,101 birds),

23rd National Montauban.

Due to the fact that Emiel races on the Natural system as well they have some outstanding hens in their lofts. "Anja" won 1st Hens Barcelona International and "Liesbet" won 1st National Barcelona in "81.


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## toilco (Aug 1, 2008)

PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

As we walked through the spacious lofts at Kortemark you could easily point to many "house -keeping" attributes that aid to their success. As in all top lofts, this loft kept about 6 to 8 birds where you could put 30 to 40 pigeons.

The Widowhood cocks lofts were very well kept. The cocks were let out for two exercise periods a day and there seemed to be no specific time for these releases.

The Natural hens would go out in the afternoon.

Attention was paid to all of the happenings in the loft and there was nothing left to chance. For instance, when they set up a certain hen on youngsters for a race and her mate starts to look at her, he is then removed and possibly all of the other cocks.

This reminds me of Vic Robinson's practice of taking all of the birds out of the loft with the exception of those that were chosen for the National. This must enhance the health of the other birds and aid in bringing top form.

The Widowhood cocks generally only see their bowl before departing for the pannier. 

Yearling cocks will see their hens for the first few races. The Natural birds are given a hopper and allowed to have access to feed all day.

Extra corn is given to both the Widowhood and Natural birds before long (Fond) distance racing starts.

The widow hens are kept in very spacious aviaries and fed a light mixture of barley with racing mixture.

Their young birds are raced on many different methods. Due to the range of lofts many different practices can take place such as natural, semi-widowhood and perch.

They also like young hens feeding small youngsters in the nest. Interestingly enough I just finished reading "Pigeon 86" and a number of the Belgian Young Bird National winners were raced to the nest in various nest positions. Also when I was interviewing pigeon fanciers in Detroit (U.S.A.) they mentioned to me that almost all of the winners in young bird racing are to the nest. 

The birds were very buoyant with an abundance of silky feathers. The wings were very supple. I noticed that all the Champions we handled in both Belgian and Holland

Had very supple wings that opened almost by themselves and seemed to have an abundance of elasticity.

The birds were small to medium in size.

The eyes showed depth and the iris' were rich in colour with an almost "oil painting" look. 

I had seen eyes with this depth in many of the lofts in the Steenbergen area of Holland especially P. Lazeroms and M. VanGeels.



ADVICE TO BEGINNERS

I asked the DeWeerdt's what advice they would give to a novice of today.

Emiel said to,"Look for the man who is at the top of his country". If possible he felt that this person should have been a winner for the last "20-25 years" or as he said, "a lifetime".

Emiel cautions the novice, "be careful of the new stars, for some are born and in two years are gone".

Emiel felt it was imperative to visit the loft you have chosen and to study the background of the birds and the fancier’s methods. This should be a fancier who does well at all distances.

Next, he suggested, you should ask to see not only his results, but also those of other fanciers who have performed well with his pigeons.

I was most impressed when Emiel shared "TWO HUGE SCRAPBOOKS" filled with testimonials and letters from fanciers all over the world who have enjoyed success with their family of pigeons.

His next advice was," if you are ready to pay his prices, buy at least 4 pigeons to start with. Practice the methods of this fancier where possible," and Emiel feels that, "within three years the OLD MAN should be PROUD to say you are a CHAMPION".



CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I must say that visiting the loft of the DeWeerdt's was not only informative, but I was moved by their sincerity and honesty. I was left with the impression that, yes, there is a FUTURE IN RACING PIGEONS.

This is a family of pigeons based on the very successful pure family of

Mrs Deweerdt & Sons of Kortemark, Belgium. It is worth mentioning to you that the old hens in this sale have flown two or more channel races as young birds and have only been very lightly bred from, if bred from at all, as they were paired to the widowhood cocks. They are only in the sale because their cocks are no longer in the racing loft so a good opportunity to purchase quality tested hens.

Our family of birds have not only bred us a multitude of winning pigeons, but they have also bred successfully for many others. They have bred winners at the highest level, including International, National, Classic, combine and federations, plus club wins too numerous to list. Some of the most well known names in our sport have achieved success with these birds. Stan Dangerfield (Scotts Boy), Harding Bros (Ashgrove King 1st NFC Pau), G & M Gilbert (The Narrow Cock), John Haynes (NFC OB ave 2005), Kevin “Kamikazi” Hitchcock, Mark Gilbert, Paul Kendall (Morning Glory), Witney and Reed (Court Out 1st CSCFC Pau), Bob Whittock to name but a few. "We have won all applicable NFC averages in the last 10 years, including the Gold Cup, NFC averages (twice), L.A.Baker trophy (best Ave. All races C, D, & G) winning it outright, 8 times in total, old bird ave. etc. best 2 bird Pau, best 3 bird Pau"


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