In Ionel Mihuţ’s loft, from Neamt county, cock with the series 2004809-2020 is the the National Champion 2021 of the Gold Club. “I called it Pfizer 4809 because it managed to fool the pandemic and, through its results, made me forget about it,” explains I. Mihuţ, the unique name given to his champion, an exceptional pigeon that excelled in the Long distance stages.

Pfizer`s fatherIonel Mihuţ started to compete in this sport in 2011, and, after only one year of activity, the first notable results began to appear in his loft. He obtained 1st place out of 7915 pigeons in a 625 km Long distance race and 3rd place in the county, respectively 25th in the National Long distance yearlings. In 2013, the upward trend continues: 1st place in county level, respectively 12th national Long distance ace, old birds. In 2016, he changed the loft and also the method to compete his pigeons: he gave up natural flying and adopted the method of widowhood. Results followed as the 10th place national Long distance ace yearlings in 2017 with the hen named “Strâmba” – 636051-2016, then the 2nd place national Gold and the 8th place national Long distance yearlings 2018 with the hen “Sharp” – 9004563-2017. The year 2021 was the culmination of his pigeon fancier career, the year in which he is the lucky winner of the 1st place National Gold Club and 2nd place National Long distance yearlings, plus the 9th place national Ace Long distance ace with hen 525755-2020.

A passionate Gold Club player

„The establishment of the GOLD Club long distance is a big plus for Romanian pigeon fanciers. It’s a way to stimulate fanciers, to get them more involved. As long as the Gold long distance Club works very well, I am sure that the same will happen with the newly launched GOLD Marathon Club, especially since in the “queen” category, the participation is much higher. At first, the organizers made some changes to the regulations, which were not the best, as it turned out. But they fixed it and now everything is OK. There have been other changes, but for the better this time. Directing a part of the prize fund, depending on the number of rings purchased, to the county branches and, more recently, from the following year, to each center, is the best measure to boost as many fanciers as possible. Thus, more and more fanciers participating in GOLD have a chance to win. The competition is fair and transparent as long as the results are those obtained in the FNCPR pigeon championship (UFCR).
Ever since the first GOLD award won in 2018, I set out to continue to participate, year after year, especially since I felt motivated by the financial gain. So it wasn’t the Olympic spirit (“it’s important to participate”) that motivated me, but the joke with the one who wanted to win the lottery, but didn’t buy a ticket. So I “buy tickets” every year. In 2020, a cock from 2019 brought me a county GOLD award. Enough to motivate me even more. And so on, year after year…“, said Ion Mihuţ.
The fancier from Neamt buys 30-40 GOLD rings at the beginning of each season. Last year, he missed at least one award because “I didn’t ring two young birds with what I needed. In 2021, they obtained good rankings on Long distance yearlings norm, with which we had real chances at the national awards. As such, I have now bought, from the GOLD prize, 50 Gold Long distance rings, for all the young birds I consider to be for this category. And I also purchased 25 Marathon Gold rings.

Pfizer 4809, a “widower” with will and attachment

The father of the champion Pfizer 4809 (photo right) is the cock with the 9010548-18 series, purchased from Cătălin Bocăneț, an inbreed pigeon: he comes from 2018 Olympic nesting brother, paired with his grandmother. The mother is the hen with the series 21231-18, a combination between an original Vandenabeele cock and a very good fancier, Vanbruaene x Limburg, from the famous fanciers Sucioaia + Senciuc. The hen was borrowed during the 2020 breeding period and, once again, it turns out that luck and inspiration have their share in what happens in the breeding loft. Mihuţ’s pigeons are competed on widowhood method, after the pigeons are allowed to raise a chick at the spring mating. They are allowed to fly out from the beginning of March, at first flying for pleasure, without being forced. In April, I start trainings with my personal car, up to about 50-70 km, then I go to training with a club car until the official competitions start. The pigeons do not see their pairs until the arrival from the races. In previous seasons, at the end, when the breeder thought that the pigeons were a bit “bored” by widowhood, they were left together for the last 2-3 stages. This season, 2021, they were kept widowed until the end and it turned out that the method paid off very well. The cock Pfizer 4809 did not have a nesting position for motivation, being a widower, but he showed that he has a great attachment for loft and his breeding box. Ionel Mihuţ declared that the pigeon will compete this year as well, because he has to show that he can do more: “He will play until the end, that is, he will fly for at least another year. Only then he can prove his worth and move to the breeding compartment.”

“It is clear that we are on the right way, I hope we will continue in the years to come”

Pfizer`s father

The care of the pigeons in the Ionel Mihuţ farm, both in season and in the off-season, is carried out according to some defining coordinates, but they are not characterized by strictness: “Between stages, about once a month, trichomoniasis and respiratory problems. In the winter, before the paramyxovirus vaccine, they are given preventive treatments against parasites, trichomoniasis and respiratory problems. I don’t just use products from one company, I alternate them. I have used Romvac, Rohnfried, Belgavet, Beyers, Dr. Peeters… Some people say that it is not good to “drug” them and I do not give them anything, but in the conditions where the requirements are higher and the competition is stronger, conditioning and recovery of pigeons must be appropriate. And this is not only achieved with encouragement and grains. Some products are also needed: electrolyte, conditioner for “charging” before the races. Almost all pigeon companies offer similar packaging and recovery products on the market. The effect is about the same. I used, in different seasons, electrolyte from Belga Vet, Rohnfried, Beyers…. They did the same thing. I used Beyers, K + K Protein from Rohnfried, Immunol from Tollisan for recovery.

Pfizer`s mother

They were all just as good. The important thing is to give them when and how much they need. And most importantly, quality food. I’m not necessarily saying it’s expensive, but it should be good bagged food, with as many types of seeds as the pigeon can enjoy. I have also encountered varieties of food in which some types of seeds remained in the feeders, these are to be avoided. I use garlic oil, brewer’s yeast, probiotic and grit quite often, without question.
“Ionel Mihuţ acknowledges that, at the moment, the Romanian pigeon fancier is on an unprecedented upward trend, even if, he claims,” we should not change the regulations so often “.” Every year new, young, talented fanciers appear. The technology in the field is progressing, the championship is getting stronger, the genetic material is getting better, and the results of the pigeons in Romania place us very high in the pigeon fancier level. We will continue in the coming years “, concluded Ionel Mihuţ.