For Vasile Bratu from Buzau, the 2021 season was by far the best of his pigeon fancier career, far exceeding the most optimistic of his expectations. Passionate only for the marathon, the pigeon fancier from Râmnicu-Sărat focused last season on only two marathon races, and his “calculations” proved to be a real win. After participating in the Birzai National and Madonna National stages, he became a double national champion, winning both the Grand Prix Old birds Marathon category and the Extreme Marathon category.

For a pigeon fancier in his fourth season of competition, aspirations for a national trophy may seem exaggerated. However, Vasile Bratu, a pigeon fancier who lives in Râmnicu-Sărat, Buzău County, and who, after a dream season, won two of the most coveted categories of the national championship, did not consider the same. Beyond any appearance, behind his extraordinary results we “find” a simple way to compete and a very special cock.

Vasile Bratu: “I compete on natural method and I’m only interested in the marathon stages”

For the 2021 season, Vasile Bratu relied on a flight team of 65 pigeons, and he competed them using a method he thought of himself. Until the second race, Vasile Bratu’s pigeons weren’t basketed in the transport car. He decided to do several training on his own, then engaged his pigeons in the second long distance race and then in the first marathon one. Until the moment they arrived from the main competition, Vasile Bratu’s pigeons competed as widows, and then they were switched to natural method. “I started in 2017 and since then I only compete in the marathon stages. My pigeons’ origins are from the team Vasea + Precop, from Paul Sorescu and from other fanciers in our area. I prefer the marathon stages, and to prepare the pigeons for these competitions I do several training sessions with my personal car. For example, I took them to training sessions with launches in Focșani, Bacău and Rădăuți Prut. After that, I engaged them directly for the second long distance race. During all this time they were widows, and after returning from the long distance race, they were switched to the natural. This is the method they compete in marathon competitions. For 10 consecutive days before basketing them for the first marathon race, they received brewer’s yeast, and the food I use is made local. When they return from the marathon competitions, depending on the weather, I do a treatment for trichomoniasis or for respiratory problems “, explained Vasile Bratu.

Cock RO-18-1070859, double national marathon champion

Last season, the entire pigeon fancier activity of the fancier from Râmnicu-Sărat can be reduced to two national marathon stages and to the special performance of the cock RO-18-1070859. Engaged at the Madona Național stage, where he had to fly no less than 1330 km, Vasile Bratu’s cock won the 1st place on his distance zone, out of 608 pigeons, arriving the next day, at 13:09. He was basketed on the Birzai National stage, a competition in which he had to fly 1233 km. His evolution was even better than in the previous competition, Vasile Bratu’s champion winning the 1st place in the county, out of 1,369 pigeons, after he managed to finish the race the next day, at 10:32:08. In total, after the two stages, he accumulated a coefficient of 2.37 penalty points, winning the 1st National place in the Marathon Grand Prix Old birds category and the 1st National place in the Extreme Marathon category. “The champion is the best pigeon I have ever had. As origins, I could not specify concretely from which lines it comes. What is certain is that it is reproduced from two marathon pigeons, which come from the Vasea + Precop team from Constanța. I can’t say he received a special treatment compared to my other pigeons, but he managed to stand out with two very good arrivals. It is true that the results surprised me extremely pleasantly “, added Vasile Bratu.

Beyond these aspects, for Vasile Bratu, competing his pigeons is very simple. He selects the young birds on his own, by car trainings, and the yearlings participate in a maximum of three long distance competitions. At the age of two, the requirements change completely. All pigeons are engaged in the marathon stages, and those who fail to make at least one norm are removed from the loft. In the off-season, the pigeons receive treatments only if they show signs of a disease, but the vaccines are mandatory. At least in his case, Vasile Bratu’s methods were more than efficient.