After the top placings on the podium of the German championship for young pigeons in 2022 and 2023, the Schlüter team was very strong again this year. Günter was available for an interview:

How did the year go from your point of view?

'We had a great start with many top prizes and the first bankruptcies. Unfortunately, in the following weeks, top pigeons with some full prizes were repeatedly missing. I cannot explain why such pigeons are missing.'

What changes have you made for 2023?

'We have not changed the method. As always, the old racing pigeons were prepared for the season after dry widowhood. During breeding, we treated the racing pigeons with Ridzol 10% against trichomonads. In recent years, we have had sensational success with Mifuma Fitness for the young birds. This year, we tested the new Mifuma Reise light and were very impressed. The pigeons shone week after week with numerous top placings.”

Which products would you not want to do without under any circumstances?

“We give the pigeons Rotosal as their first drink when they return from the race. This allows them to regenerate very quickly and lays the foundation for the next week. I often give both the racing and breeding pigeons young animal powder and Entrobac over their feed. This ensures an optimal immune response and stable intestinal flora. When it comes to breeding pigeons, I will definitely not deviate from OptiBreed because the young pigeons grow up perfectly with it. I always dry it off with feed lime. This means the youngsters are always in perfect shape'

 What are your top performers at the moment?

'At the moment and probably in the long term, the pigeons from SG Hagedorn-Becker-Schwick are our top performers. The pigeons are simply in a class of their own and if I had gotten them ten years earlier, I would not have been dissatisfied. I would particularly like to highlight the offspring of 'Dampfhammer 77'. As a young bird with SG Hagedorn-Becker-Schwick, this bird flew 6/6 with 471 ace points. As a two-year-old, it flew 11/12 with 858 ace points, placing 7th. best old bird in Westphalia. As a three-year-old he flies 11/13 with 912 ace points and is 13th best old bird in Westphalia. The grandchildren of this outstanding bird are also flying first prizes with us.

The trio has struck again! Günter and Dietmar Schlüter, together with their partner Ralf Poelka, were able to secure a place on the winner's podium again with third place at the German Young Pigeon Championship!

Günter, how did the preparation of the young pigeons for the 2023 season go?

'We paired our 26 breeding pairs in January and bred around 110 young pigeons. After weaning, we vaccinated our young pigeons twice with RP Vacc. As a result, like last year, we had no problems with young pigeon disease. Our young pigeons regularly received OptiBreed together with young animal powder and Blitzform once a week. In addition, we regularly gave them Entrobac and Bt-Amin forte, which meant that our young pigeons could already go away for up to one and a half hours in April. Unfortunately, we also lost a lot of pigeons at home, but as the success shows, the good ones stayed.'

What did the private training of the young pigeons look like?

'We took our young pigeons to a distance of 500 meters once - that was all. Since our young pigeons had already moved away for so long, no additional private training was necessary.'

What was the system like for the young pigeons?

'We darkened our young pigeons and later exposed them to a weaker form. We also separated the young pigeons during the season and played them using the sliding door method, which means we let them run together before releasing them and then basketed them.”

Which breeding pigeons contributed to these successes?

“Similar to last year, it is the pigeons from SG Hagedorn/Becker/Schwick, Willi Linsen and the sports friend Borgmann. I would also like to mention the grey bird “377” from Willi Linsen. This bird, which is descended from Leidemann, has produced outstanding youngsters with first-class prices this year.”

How was the care of the young pigeons during the season?

“The young pigeons received Mifuma Fitness throughout the season. In addition, they were given OptiBreed with K+K protein, young animal powder and Entrobac in their feed until Wednesdays. Rotosal and Bt-Amin forte were also used at the beginning of the week to promote rapid regeneration.”

Which young pigeons won top prizes on the races?

“Here we would like to mention the “23-429” from a pairing of Hagedorn-Becker-Schwick. It flew the 1st, 2nd and 6th prizes on the last three flights and thus contributed significantly to the championship. The “23-447” was also convincing, reaching the first prize on the second flight and distinguishing itself through first-class placings. It comes from the aforementioned bird from Willi Linsen.”