Viorel Barbu is 39 years old, he is from Pitești and he is very passionate about pigeons. He discovered them when he was a child, in his grandfather's household, and immediately fell in love with them. At first he had only a few, but gradually their number increased. He read everything he found about the secrets of pigeon fancier, he interacted with various breeders, and today he has his own pigeon farm. Even though he is called a “weekend flyer”, Viorel Barbu managed to win, over time, numerous competitive stages. What is his secret, what does he feed his birds, how does it help them cope with difficult competitions and how is the first half of the 2018 competition season, read in the following lines.

"I am passionate about pigeons from an early age, I think I was born with them in my blood, in my DNA", this is how Viorel Barbu describes himself. The reason: he inherits his passion from his grandfather. "I had the first pigeons when I was 4-5 years old. I remember the cage my father made, somewhere in the eaves of my grandparents' house. As I grew older, my passion grew. Thus, I ended up having a more generous farm, somewhere at 12m X 2.5m, where a number of 40 pigeons live together in the royal compartments and somewhere at 50-60 flyers. The farm is divided into five compartments, two of them are intended for the group of fliers, two for the breeding group and a compartment for the chicks ", explains Viorel Barbu.

Champion attitude: "as in any sport, there are winners and losers!"

"As a game system, I use natural flight, on fake eggs. I can't say I prefer it, but being a weekend flyer (the farm is located 60 km away from home, and I only see birds on weekends, sometimes every other weekend), I think it helps me cope. the requirements of a highly contested competitive season. I work in a fairly young pigeon fancier club, Neacșu Marin Club - Șerboieni, but with formidable opponents, national masters and multiple national champions in different flight categories, that's why I have to try to rise to their level. Sometimes I succeed, other times I don't. As in any sport, there are winners and losers! Everything is to be able to shake the hand of the one who defeated us and to be more ambitious ”. Regarding the food of his pigeons, Viorel Barbu says that he uses Beyers products: “starting with the 2017 competitive year, I got acquainted with some products of the Beyers company. I was satisfied with them, and in 2018 I use exclusively Beyers products, from recuperators and conditioning to food, everything is Beyers. I used and will use for recovery Electrolyt Plus from Beyers, Mineral Plus, Amino Plus. For conditioning I use Mineral Plus and Condition Plus. For treatments I use for airways from porumbei360.ro, exceptional products until today. As food, everything is Beyers, mixtures of several types, depending on the difficulty of the race. I mention here Premium Koopman, Premium Vandenabeele, Sport Energy, Long - Distance. I have recommended and recommend Beyers food. That's after I saw the difference in my farm. Deserve!".

The results of his pigeons in the first half of the 2018 competition season

And the results can be seen in competitions: “The 2018 competition season is only halfway through. So far it has been a difficult season, largely due to weather conditions, but I think in the end it will be a successful one. Anyway, I can't rise to the rank of value breeders I compete with, but there were stages where I felt like a national champion, of course keeping the proportions… So far I have had several successful stages. I would mention here:

1st place - 5877p - 355 km;

1st place - 3599p - 613 km

1st place - 1910p - 185 km

4 Place - 5877p - 355 km;

5 Place - 5877 p - 355 km;

6 Place - 5877 p - 355 km;

6 Place - 1667 p - 306 km;

7 Place - 5877 p - 355 km;

7 Place - 2795 p - 116 km;

9 Place - 1677 p - 128 km.

In the ranking of breeders I would mention:

1st place - 190 breeders - 355 km;

2nd place - 408 breeders - 613 km;

3rd place - 75 breeders - 116 km.

Tip for beginners: "consider quality, not quantity!"

For those at the beginning of the road, he has only one piece of advice: take quality into account, not quantity. "It simply came to our notice then. It is a sport, and like any sport it requires involvement and sacrifice. Of any kind. Do not fall into the mirage of pompous titles, colored papers. Choose a favorite flight category and dedicate yourself to it. Birds to buy from breeders who fly well, not from breeders who benefit from advertising. I have a principle, a motto: Quality prevails with me, not quantity! Always keep that in mind. Avoid farms suffocated by a large number of pigeons. Where there is congestion, it is difficult to maintain an almost perfect state of health, this being one of the steps that lead to success. To take into account the health of the pigeons, the conditions of the farm, the food administered. Never forget that they are the coaches, and the pigeons are their athletes ", is the exhortation of Viorel Barbu.