Impressive…

It’s a bit wrong but to be honest, I met Evert Diepeveen for the first time thanks to the Röhnfried Courier. Not everyone follows pigeon racing all the time and certainly not the short distance game in our neighbouring country. We finally met him at the end of 2016 and at the end of our conversation, we were impressed.

He enjoys pigeon racing as much as he can and is able to handle the sportive aspect as well as the business side. As a member of the NPO, he knows how to deal with it all.

On the business level, he is the man behind First Prize Pigeons. In a very short time, they produced national and international winners such as in 2017: 1st International Narbonne (N vd Hurk) – 1st National Marseille (Team Vollebrecht) – 1st National Perigieux Sector 3 (H Zwiers) – 1st National Orange Sector 3 (A Versluis); in 2016: 1st National St. Vincent (F Zwiers) – 1st National Dax Sector 1 (F Zwiers) – 1st National Albi Sector 3 (Comb driessen ); in 2015: 1st International Pau (De Smeyter Restiaen) – 1st National St. Vincent Sector 2 (J Boers). More information can be found on the website of First Prize Pigeons.

On the administrative level, he has been part of the NPO (Nederlands Postduiven Orgaan) since 2016. There, too, he demonstrated his skills and vision towards our sport, which he wants and will bring back to a higher level.

On the sportive level, he often dominates 100-400km races!!! After our conversation at the end of 2016, I started following him. This year, the NPO brought out a newsletter “Op de Hoogte”, and every week subscribers can get free information. That is a very modern and proper way in contemporary pigeon racing. Here, you can also have a look at the results and the name of Evert Diepeveen can be found in every race, from the first to the last.

Evert Diepeveen’s Nutritional Plan

On arrival from a race, the pigeons receive a number of products for recovery such as Mumm (glucose and vitamin C) and electrolytes (Avipharm and Bt-Amin forte).
Then they are given Hexenbier and Hessechol to get rid of waste products as quickly as possible. For clean bronchial tubes, Atemfrei is used in the feed dried with Avimycine powder.

Care then needs to be taken as soon as possible to ensure they build up their reserves through the use of RO 200 and Blitzform (iodine). For good digestion, Moorgold in combination with Entrobac and/or Immunbooster are a help. Additionally, the pigeons are given Carni-Speed every day because L-Carnitine stimulates the burning of the fat and the pigeons also arrive home less tired.

During the moulting period, he uses a lot of Bt-Amin forte and Hessechol, two products that are the basis of good quality feathers!

During the breeding period, they get a lot of Avidress Plus combined with Gervit-W.
Evert is not afraid of using too much of the supplementary products – a shortage would be worse, the pigeons would be worn-out and “used-up” faster.

How does he do it???

Respect for nature: Evert is an animal lover, which you soon notice whenever he starts talking about his pigeons, his dogs or his wife’s horses. He will never do anything against nature. “What you do in the pigeon loft is reflected in the behaviour of the birds. He is very sure that animals are aware of how you handle them and that has an impact on their results.”

Do your best: What you do for them will bring you something in return. Try to respect the biorhythm of the pigeons. Do everything on time, as it should be. Care, training and feeding should all be done as punctually as possible and always with regularity.

Good nutrition: Use top-quality nutritional supplements every day of the year. Pigeons have to be in a good health all year long. That is why he believes in nutritional supplements, extras such as protein (K + K Protein) for quick muscle recovery after the race, together with amino acids (Bt-Amin forte), comparable to today’s athletes, who immediately drink a shake following their exertion to provide the body with quick energy. As a former racing cyclist, he knows that the body needs these daily supplements. A weekly schedule with a large amount of supplements, as with Evert, is not excessive. That is proven the results of his pigeons. If they are able to score within the top at the age of 6 and 7 years (the cocks as well as the hens) and not only winning prizes by the 10s but even prizes by the 100s and that a whole season long from the first to the last race, from 100 to 500km, then you see that “constant” top results are possible. Evert is also very meticulous and everything he does he notes down in a little book.

These really are super results! The old and yearling birds participate in all the races, from the first to the last week, in the beginning on total widowhood and afterwards from the nest.

Remarkable here is that he still races pigeons born in 2012, 2013 and 2014!!! And they are still scoring high at the top – just have a look at the individual results. At 4, 5 and 6 years of age, they are still at the top of the short distance races.

Star of the loft

Without a doubt, that is the young cock NL 15-1842171, who goes by the name of “Kittel”. In 2017, he was 2nd National Ace Cock in the Short Distance NPO with fantastic performances:
1st Laon against 2,623 pigeons, fastest pigeon against 10,429 pigeons
1st Isnes against 1,581 pigeons, fastest pigeon against 6,251 pigeons
1st Vervins against 2,249 pigeons
1st Chimay against 2,197 pigeons
1st Isnes against 1,402 pigeons
1st Chimay against 1,354 pigeons
1st Chimay against 1,159 pigeons

His sire is ace pigeon Gilbert from the Ulijn and Son Loft and his dam is a daughter of Olympic Nicole.