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Breed of the Issue - Helmet
Helmet- Page 47 - Purebred PIGEON
I have always had chickens like Sabelpootkrielen and later
just chickens for the eggs. Just after my wedding I had a small
dovecote in the garden with some Old German meeuwtjes.
The love for pigeons never disappeared. In 2019 I restarted the
hobby in a serious way. There always has to be a story behind
it for me. I contacted the Stichting Zeldzame Huisdierenrassen,
the foundation of rare Dutch domesticated animal breeds, www.
szh.nl. I studied the rare Dutch breeds and the critical situation
of the Dutch Helmet. I found out that it was one of the oldest
breeds, since 1603, which makes it very special. I was intro-
duced to Mr. Rein Slikker, who introduced me to the fancy
pigeon world. I soon found out that there are two types of Dutch
Helmet pigeons, the show type and the flying type. The flying
type especially attracted me, as it should be like the original
Dutch Helmet kept in the old days, mostly in Amsterdam. I live
in the polder (lowland area) and I wanted my pigeons to be fly-
ing around freely. Besides, I found out that not only there were
two types of fancy pigeons, but also breeders of these pigeons
seem to be different. The combination of keeping show and
flying pigeons together is a bit complicated. It is hard to train
the athletic flying type well if they are held with the bigger,
quiet show pigeons. I have two departments in my dovecote. In
summer, I keep the youngsters separately from the breeding. In
winter, I separate the males and females.
Mr Hennie Schwarz, who has been a pigeon breeder his
entire life, emigrated many years ago from Amsterdam to our
region in West Friesland. He is a top breeder of the old Dutch
breed Hagenaars and Chinese Frills. He was breeding fancy
pigeons 60 years ago in the old city of Amsterdam. As a profes-
sional municipal fireman he could watch his own pigeons flying
high above Amsterdam. Hennie is a renowned international top
judge. Hennie has an enormous knowledge, and next to that
he is a most friendly and humorous man and pigeon friend. He
helped me start with deciding on the right cross breeds and still
helps me. I have joined a small club show in Amsterdam and
even became reserve champion with a young red cock.
Promotion
I actively try to promote the Dutch Helmet pigeon as living
heritage and as one of the representatives of the rare Old Dutch
breeds. For the preservation of these breeds it is important
to have a correct breeding administration to keep the vitality
of the breed. The Vrijwillig Sierduiven Stamboek Neder-
land (VSSNL), meaning the Voluntarily Breeds Registration
The Author’s flying Dutch Helmets