In 2024, the Ullrich loft community was able to shine again with strong performances. Not only did they reach 27th place in the German Association Championship competition, they became 19th Association Yearling Champion, 16th in the Association’s RV Championship and took 37th place in the National Championship of the magazine “Die Brieftaube”. The great season was crowned with the title of “1st place in the Aktion-Mensch-Flüge” at the national level. The sports friends also took top places in various OLR competitions, such as the title of third best team in the Algarve Winter Race or in the Usedom Race, where they placed the 2nd, 5th, 7th, 11th, 18th and 39th ace pigeon against a total of 2,200 pigeons. In the RegV, they took third place in the German Association Championship, first place in the VB yearling championship and second place in the internal RegV championship. In addition, with the 1811-20-1534, they presented the 1st internal ace female (10 Pr., 926.36 AP) and with the 1811-23-1172, the 1st internal ace bird yearling (8 Pr., 772.75 AP). Incidentally, the '1534' already became the 34th ace female at federal level in 2022. In the national list of the final flight, 76.3% was achieved and in the other flights, too, the score was always above the 50 percent mark. The competition started with 96 animals of both sexes and 59 were brought to the start in the final flight. The one-year-old animals must complete the final flight, provided they are in good shape and healthy.

Before the start of the season, the stock is brought into the necessary flight shape on around 10 private flights of up to 40 km. After that, all preliminary flights are also filled. This is necessary because the stock must be fixed by the beginning of March due to birds of prey. For a month, there is free flight without coercion and then distance training from April.

The Ullrichs have been relying on Röhnfried products for supplements for years. In summary, the feeding plan is as follows: On the day of return, 10 g of Mumm (from 4 hours of flight time), Rotosal and BT-Amin Forte are added to the drinking trough. Hexenbier (20ml) and Topfit Futterkalk (10g) are added to the feed. Other products are added throughout the week, such as Wednesday and Thursday Blitzform, RO 200ready and Jungtierpulver, Sunday and Monday K+K Protein 3000, 3 times a week Hexenbier, Monday and Tuesday UsneGano and daily Carni-Speed.

What advice do you have for less successful sports fans?

“You have to keep yourself informed and up to date and you should exchange ideas with good breeders. This always includes dealing with people that is characterized by honesty and appreciation. Also find out about news in our sport on the Internet. YouTube formats such as “RöhnfriedTV” and “Konstatiert - Pigeon News” are particularly recommended.

How did the 2023 season go?

“Overall, we were very satisfied with our season. We not only became RV champions for the old pigeons, but after 2 years we also became RV champions with the young pigeons again. In addition, we took 2nd place in the internal young bird championship in regional association 300. We also have the 2nd and 7th best young pigeon in this championship. The 23-1080 originally comes from our friend Jörg Bienge, and the 23-855, which took 7th place, comes from Alfred Berger. In the one-loft races we were able to win the semi-finals in Cairo in the spring, and in the Baltic Sea race Usedom we achieved great results, including places 12, 13, 54 and 85 out of over 2000 pigeons.'

Which pigeon lines were your top performers this year?

'In the racing team, an original from Alfred Berger, who is also the father of 'Baltic Thunder', was one of our best pigeons. The half-siblings 'Kerosin' and '538', who come from the line of our 'Little Blue', were also among our top performers. An absolute highlight was our 33rd ace hen at federal level in 2022, 'Lucky Lady2'. She became the 73rd ace pigeon in May at the national level with 389.11 points.'

Which products were particularly important for you this year and how did you use them?

'We fed our young pigeons, which were sent to One Loft Races, with a combination of Opti-Breed and young bird powder for four days over several weeks after weaning. In addition, they received VitaloTop in their drinking water every day for 10 days. This contributed significantly to increasing vitality and strengthening the immune system.”

What changes are you planning for 2024?

“Next year we will ensure that we have more foster pairs in order to breed more offspring from our best breeding pigeons.”

Which flights have you remembered particularly well this year?

“We remember the four young bird flights with headwind particularly well, especially because we were finally able to win the title of young bird champion again.”

What are your goals for 2024?

“In terms of sport, we are aiming to achieve a top ten placement at national level again. One of our big dreams is to win the overall ranking at De Duif.”