Martial Maindrelle
Bretteville-sur-Laize
Meeting with Martial Maindrelle
Sixteen times provincial winner, second national in the middle distance and young-birds... For Martial Maindrelle, 2020 was like the years before: excellent. We had the pleasure to meet the pigeon fancier in his lair, in Bretteville-sur-Laize, not far from Caen. It was an opportunity to come back to the courses, playing method and motivation (among others) of this enthusiast. To do so, the Norman lent himself to the game of interview, to be discovered on video in particular.
- Tell us a little about your career...
"I've always had pigeons. My parents were not pigeon fanciers at all. When I was a child, my uncle gave me a couple of racing pigeons and, as a teenager, I built a small pigeon loft. I had started to raise them but I got tired of racing pigeons. Then I became interested in show pigeons. I got a few prizes but, once again, I got tired of them because of the very low number of exhibitions, especially in my sector. That's how I came to be interested in sport pigeons, via high flyers from Budapest and oriental flyers. Finally, in 1992, I came across homing pigeons, somewhat by chance. This had always interested me before that year, but I had never been involved with them before because at that time there were a lot of constraints. I then took a break in my career, before starting again in 2011. I bought pigeons right away, especially specimens from Olympic lines. Many denigrate them but for me they are the best pigeons that exist. Let's not forget that they are animals that are obliged to achieve ten top prizes over two years. This is not insignificant. And to have ten head prizes, you have to play a lot, especially because in the third region, we have a few competitions. Here, there is just a programme of about thirty competitions, including the federal ones, every year. There is almost no right to make mistakes if we want pigeons that participate either in the French championships or in the Olympiads. That's why I base my selection on the results. »
- What are your facilities?
"I have a large Dumovat dovecote, bought in 2002, which is 15.5 metres long. It has five compartments, plus two aviary compartments. Besides, I have a dovecote made by a member of my club, which has two compartments for playing the longest distances. I also have four aviaries in which I put pigeons that I have in surplus, especially for what I appreciate most: breeding pigeons that will really make results. That's why I have a large stock of my best pigeons at home, which I work on or pick from when I want to work on a particular character. I also have a small building exclusively dedicated to my breeding pigeons, which means that I have about 30 pairs each year. »
Vidéo 2
- What are your favourite competitions?
"The semi-foundations, from 150 to 600 kilometres. In my area, in any case, you don't have much choice: there is no speed contest, you start at 200 kilometres. For the moment, international competitions are not my goal because I don't have enough time to devote to them. Even if I'm starting to breed some pigeons for the long distances. But that doesn't interest me more than that: the waiting times are really too long. »
- A little word about your colony?
"In 2020, I raised 180 young people. That's far too many. I have 400 pigeons left this winter. I have a lot of one year to play next year. I have 24 widowed couples, whom I play in total widowhood. At the same time, I have two bachelor loft apartments with 50 pigeons in each one. »
Video 3
- What are your playing techniques?
"I play total widowhood. I have a hundred or so bachelors who are played on the board or the square but who hardly see each other. Young people are played on the board. I have always wanted to keep the game simple so that I can select pigeons that can come to mind without having to use any tricks. They go racing without motivation, almost without motivation. Nevertheless, many of them manage to get to the top. My goal is to breed a line of pigeons that will perform without motivation. »
- What motivates you in pigeon racing?
"My main criterion is to win races. Since 2013 I have won 88 groups. I have participated in the last three Olympiads: Budapest in 2015, Brussels in 2017 and Poznan in 2019. Winning races means having as many pigeons as possible in the lead. But once I have won the races of the weekend I forget and think about the next one. »
- You are a specialist in the so-called performance gene technique. What does this consist of?
"It's relatively simple. First, you have to do a test. You take one or more feathers from a pigeon, which you then send to a genetics laboratory. This will enable us to find out whether or not there are performance genes present. Then there is the stage of autosomal transmission, which is finally quite simple to understand as soon as we have the diagrams in front of us. But all this is just a plus. The most important part is the selection that will be made based on the results obtained in the race. It's just a way to improve the lineage. And so, ideally, you have to have a good line, to which you will graft pigeons that, when you buy them, will have performance genes. This is what I have done, either through joint breeding or through purchases. »
Video
- What is the part of chance in this approach?
"In terms of genetics, there is no such thing: either the pigeons have the genes or they don't have them. If they have them, they will pass them on in a certain ratio, between 1/4 and 1/2, or even for some, a pure one. But genetics isn't everything: you have to count on environmental factors, the loft, the food, the weather of the day, the situation of the loft...".
- How do you see the coming year?
"It will depend mainly on the epidemic. This year there was a small delay, but it didn't go too badly in the end. And even very well, because there were fewer pigeons lost than before. This despite the high temperatures. In short, this year I will try to do as well. Every year I tell myself that I won't be able to do better, that winning five groups in a year is already extraordinary, but every year the pigeons win more. »
video
Sixteen times provincial winner, second national in the middle distance and young-birds... For Martial Maindrelle, 2020 was like the years before: excellent. We had the pleasure to meet the pigeon fancier in his lair, in Bretteville-sur-Laize, not far from Caen. It was an opportunity to come back to the courses, playing method and motivation (among others) of this enthusiast. To do so, the Norman lent himself to the game of interview, to be discovered on video in particular.
- Tell us a little about your career...
"I've always had pigeons. My parents were not pigeon fanciers at all. When I was a child, my uncle gave me a couple of racing pigeons and, as a teenager, I built a small pigeon loft. I had started to raise them but I got tired of racing pigeons. Then I became interested in show pigeons. I got a few prizes but, once again, I got tired of them because of the very low number of exhibitions, especially in my sector. That's how I came to be interested in sport pigeons, via high flyers from Budapest and oriental flyers. Finally, in 1992, I came across homing pigeons, somewhat by chance. This had always interested me before that year, but I had never been involved with them before because at that time there were a lot of constraints. I then took a break in my career, before starting again in 2011. I bought pigeons right away, especially specimens from Olympic lines. Many denigrate them but for me they are the best pigeons that exist. Let's not forget that they are animals that are obliged to achieve ten top prizes over two years. This is not insignificant. And to have ten head prizes, you have to play a lot, especially because in the third region, we have a few competitions. Here, there is just a programme of about thirty competitions, including the federal ones, every year. There is almost no right to make mistakes if we want pigeons that participate either in the French championships or in the Olympiads. That's why I base my selection on the results. »
- What are your facilities?
"I have a large Dumovat dovecote, bought in 2002, which is 15.5 metres long. It has five compartments, plus two aviary compartments. Besides, I have a dovecote made by a member of my club, which has two compartments for playing the longest distances. I also have four aviaries in which I put pigeons that I have in surplus, especially for what I appreciate most: breeding pigeons that will really make results. That's why I have a large stock of my best pigeons at home, which I work on or pick from when I want to work on a particular character. I also have a small building exclusively dedicated to my breeding pigeons, which means that I have about 30 pairs each year. »
Vidéo 2
- What are your favourite competitions?
"The semi-foundations, from 150 to 600 kilometres. In my area, in any case, you don't have much choice: there is no speed contest, you start at 200 kilometres. For the moment, international competitions are not my goal because I don't have enough time to devote to them. Even if I'm starting to breed some pigeons for the long distances. But that doesn't interest me more than that: the waiting times are really too long. »
- A little word about your colony?
"In 2020, I raised 180 young people. That's far too many. I have 400 pigeons left this winter. I have a lot of one year to play next year. I have 24 widowed couples, whom I play in total widowhood. At the same time, I have two bachelor loft apartments with 50 pigeons in each one. »
Video 3
- What are your playing techniques?
"I play total widowhood. I have a hundred or so bachelors who are played on the board or the square but who hardly see each other. Young people are played on the board. I have always wanted to keep the game simple so that I can select pigeons that can come to mind without having to use any tricks. They go racing without motivation, almost without motivation. Nevertheless, many of them manage to get to the top. My goal is to breed a line of pigeons that will perform without motivation. »
- What motivates you in pigeon racing?
"My main criterion is to win races. Since 2013 I have won 88 groups. I have participated in the last three Olympiads: Budapest in 2015, Brussels in 2017 and Poznan in 2019. Winning races means having as many pigeons as possible in the lead. But once I have won the races of the weekend I forget and think about the next one. »
- You are a specialist in the so-called performance gene technique. What does this consist of?
"It's relatively simple. First, you have to do a test. You take one or more feathers from a pigeon, which you then send to a genetics laboratory. This will enable us to find out whether or not there are performance genes present. Then there is the stage of autosomal transmission, which is finally quite simple to understand as soon as we have the diagrams in front of us. But all this is just a plus. The most important part is the selection that will be made based on the results obtained in the race. It's just a way to improve the lineage. And so, ideally, you have to have a good line, to which you will graft pigeons that, when you buy them, will have performance genes. This is what I have done, either through joint breeding or through purchases. »
Video
- What is the part of chance in this approach?
"In terms of genetics, there is no such thing: either the pigeons have the genes or they don't have them. If they have them, they will pass them on in a certain ratio, between 1/4 and 1/2, or even for some, a pure one. But genetics isn't everything: you have to count on environmental factors, the loft, the food, the weather of the day, the situation of the loft...".
- How do you see the coming year?
"It will depend mainly on the epidemic. This year there was a small delay, but it didn't go too badly in the end. And even very well, because there were fewer pigeons lost than before. This despite the high temperatures. In short, this year I will try to do as well. Every year I tell myself that I won't be able to do better, that winning five groups in a year is already extraordinary, but every year the pigeons win more. »
video
Pictures
