If you don’t know who Jos Thone is then today I have a treat for you. Jos Thone is a name synonymous with pigeon racing, he has accomplished everything a fancier could ever want to in this sport and in many cases has done it six times over. To say he is a super champion would be an understatement. Here are just a few of his accomplishments:
- 4x World Champion
- 6x Gouden Duif
- 5x Olympiad pigeon
- 7x 1 National
- 2x 1 International
- 1 National Champion BDS
- 13x 1 National Champion LCB
- 1 National Champion KBDB long distance yearlings
Pretty impressive right?
Here is a special interview that Jos did where he shares some of his champion winning techniques and strategies with you. The interview is in-depth and over an hour long so get a pen and some paper ready and get ready to take some notes. Now if your short on time I went ahead and broke down the interview along with the time stamp for each question this way you can jump to the questions you want the most. You can find the interview questions breakdown below the video. Enjoy the video!
Interview Breakdown
- What are the average velocities for flying in Belgium? (7:11)
- Why are the pigeons big and heavy in Belgium? (8:06)
- How many weeks do you fly per year? (10:36)
- Can you talk about evolution of strains? (14:58)
- Does good health and medication have pigeons flying further today? (15:47)
- Why are we losing birds to dehydration? (16:40)
- Discuss transport and trailers (17:11)
- Which is better “Natural System” or “Widowhood”? (18:59)
- What medical preparation do you use prior to pairing up? (19:51)
- What do you think of the “Darkness System”? (24:30)
- In Sydney, fanciers use the “Starvo System”, what are your thoughts? (28:48)
- What’s your views on transporting pigeons and fatigue? (32:28)
- Is it better to have free range stock or “prisoner stock”? (35:35)
- When you purchase a stock pigeon, what do you look for? (36:30)
- Whats your opinion on spreading prize pool winnings? (38:18)
- Pigeons used to stay together as families, has performance pigeons changed this? (39:08)
- What are 3 key factors to breeding a super pigeon? (39:45)
- What natural products do you recommend for racing birds? (40:28)
- How important is loft location in your area? (41:40)
- Where is your loft position in Belgium? (43:48)
- In Sydney we change direction every year. Would same direction improve losses? (45:41)
- What do you think about racing pigeons in Malta? (48:18)
- How many years can you race your birds for? (49:13)
- What eye coloring performs better in certain races/conditions? (50:05)
- If you are racing 500km over 10-15 races, how long would the bird fly around the loft prior? (53:15)
- If you are racing weekly, what do you feed the birds? (55:09)
- If you race weekly, do you need to break them down, using minimal barley? (55:48)
- Do fast pigeons power through, leaving the slow ones behind? (56:31)
- What do you think of taking yearlings out of the Barcelona race? (59:20)
- Do you pair up same pedigree when breeding? (1:03:09)
- Do shavings get caught on the birds feet? (1:03:59)
- Do you have problems with Peregrine Falcons in Belgium? (1:05:49)
- What do you think about “Super Form” and trying to maintain this? (1:09:00)
- How many young birds do you breed and how many do you have left at the end of the season? (1:09:31)
- Why did the Vice President of China visit your loft? (1:09:50)
- What is the average price of the birds for sale? (1:12:28)
Excellent !
Top notch from a top pigeon man. Thanks for posting.
Fantastic one on one with Jos Thone, thank you for sending it to me