About Us
Our History
Double T Lofts is a father and son partnership in Midland, Texas. Tom, my father, has had pigeons since his younger brother brought home a couple of commons in 1961. Since his younger brother did not want to take care of these birds, my father took over, & enjoyed the birds. His father, my grandfather, then decided if they were going to have pigeons in their backyard, they would be racing pigeons. Thus, a passion for racing pigeons was born in my father, Tom.
Success was achieved early in my father’s racing career. In Tom’s first year of racing, he won the last 300 mile YB race of the season in the Permian Basin Pigeon Club, at the age of 16. Tom would then continue to race the birds through high school and his first two years of college. However, when he went off to Texas Tech, he set the birds aside for 5 years, as he completed his studies in Chemical Engineering and married his wife and my mother, Dana.
Tom resumed racing when he moved to Midland and went to work for Shell. Success again came quickly, as he won every race but one in the Young Bird season of ’71 in the Midland Racing Pigeon Club. However, he was not in Midland very long.
In the fall of ’72, my parents moved to Kalkaska, MI, as Tom was transferred with Shell. My father only took 10-12 of his birds with him to Michigan, and he did not race them. It was in Michigan that my older brother, Tyler, was born in 1973. The following year, my parents were once again transferred with Shell to Houston, TX. It was in Houston that my father was able to get back to racing.
In 1975, the Double T Lofts partnership was born. 1975 was the year that I was born in Houston, TX. Although, I was not flying birds the day I was born, it did not take very long. Around this same time, my father imported his first pigeons. He imported 8 Cattrysse from Stan Young in England. These Cattrysse raised a number of very good pigeons when crossed onto both Janssen and Ameels. In Houston, we had three 6’ X 4’ X 3’ lofts (2 racing and one breeding), & we had a hen loft that was 4’ X 4’ X 3’. At that time, my father flew 20 young birds, 9 widowhood cocks, 12 widowhood hens, & 6 pairs of breeders.
In the summer of 1980, Ray Cothran & Leroy Patton of Odessa, TX sent my dad 6-8 late hatches, and he combined those birds with the 10-12 birds that he had raised. That year my father won 1st TX Center Hall of Fame Young Bird Loft, as well as 1st TX Center Hall of Fame Young Bird with a bird raised by Ray Cothran out of a son of one of the Cattrysse cocks that my father had imported in ’75. My father had continued success in Houston for the next few years. Another highlight of our time in Houston was the birth of my younger brother Jeff in 1981. We then moved to our present location in Midland, TX in 1983.
When we moved to Midland, a nice 18’ X 48’ loft was built alongside our new house on 2 ½ acres of land half way between Midland and Odessa. The young bird season of ’84 was the 1st year that we flew in Midland. That year, as a nine year old, was the 1st year that I flew out of my own loft on my parents’ property. Twenty years later, I once again have my loft on my parents’ property.
Our Business Begins
Double T Lofts did not actually become a business until 1998. After graduating from Texas Tech University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, I went to work for my father’s consulting business, Beard Engineering, Inc. A few months later, we made the decision to enter the pigeon business. While we have been selling birds for a short period of time, we have a number of years of experience, and we have quickly gathered a group of outstanding, proven breeders. With our combined skills in selecting, breeding, & flying, we have put together a number of super families.
Ariel Families
One of the 1st birds that we purchased in ’98 was “Adam”. “Adam” is a son of “Ariel” & “Super Crack 65”, and he is the father of at least 23 winners, & he is the grandsire of many other winners. Included in the winners off of “Adam” is a hen that has won 1st & 2nd Texas Center Hall of Fame in consecutive Old Bird seasons. “Adam” proved to be such a super pigeon that we bought his mother, “Ariel” from Mike Ganus in 2000. Both “Ariel” & “Adam” has proven to be incredible breeders. “Ariel” is a Tournier / Janssen cross, and she was the 1st National Ace of the One Day Long Distance Races of Holland in ’96. We have only flown one direct child of “Ariel’s”, & that hen was a 5th Texas Center Hall of Fame Young Bird in 2001. Similarly, in excess of 40 of “Ariel’s” grandchildren or great grandchildren have been at least equal 1st for Double T Lofts. This family has proven to be so special because of their intelligence combined with their speed and toughness. Our “Ariel” family excels at all distances, and they are an excellent family for the many One-Loft races across the U.S. Multiple grandchildren & great grandchildren of “Ariel” have won money in One-Loft races across the U.S. As an example, a son of “Adam’s” was equal 1st on the two training races of the Vegas Classic in ’02, and he was on the 2nd drop (19th Overall) in the 300 mile Vegas Classic. In the 2006 Vegas Classic a great granddaughter of both “Ariel” and “Adam” was 16th, and another great granddaughter of both “Ariel” and “Adam” was 1st in the 2007 Vegas 330 race.
Janssen Families
Another family of birds that we acquired in ’98 was the “969” Janssen family. The majority of our “969” Janssen came from the loft of the late Dr. Ken Warren in Houston. Dr. Warren had acquired a large group of sons and daughters of the famous “969” (a son of “019”), and we in turn were able to acquire a number of very nice birds from Dr. Warren. In ’98, we brought in 5 pair of “969”, and in ’99 young birds all five pair raised at least one bird that was at least equal 1st. In ’99 young birds, we had a “969” Janssen hen, “Pure Silk” that was 1st Texas Center Hall of Fame, and we were 2nd Texas Center Hall of Fame with another “969” Janssen hen. Our family of “969” has grown to include 2 sons and 2 daughters of “Assured Gold” and “Granger’s Diamond”. Similarly, we had a direct son and daughter of “969”. This family has been a very good family for us, and we continue to have great success with them. We have found that they are sometimes even better when crossed onto our De Klak Janssen.
Our De Klak family of Janssen consists primarily of birds from the loft of Jos Leuris & Son in Holland. Jos Leuris had a super cock that was 11 times 1st & greater than 70 times in the prizes, as a racer. That super cock was “Den 55”. “Den 55” proved to be a great racer, and he has proven to be an even better breeder. His sons and daughters have been exceptional. Two of his sons that are now breeding at Double T Lofts are “Atomic Bomb 55” & “Atomic 55”. These cocks were exceptional racers, and along with their half brother “Dark One 55”, they have proven to be excellent breeders. All 3 of these cocks have produced multiple race winners and excellent breeders. For example, a son of “Dark One 55’s” was Combine Champion Old Bird. A full sister of that Combine Champion Old Bird has been 3rd and 6th Combine Champion. Similarly, a daughter of “Dark One 55’s” was 24th in the 2003 Vegas Classic. Other examples include the following: a daughter of “Atomic Bomb 55’” was 1st Texas Center Hall of Fame in 2001 young birds, another daughter of “Atomic Bomb 55” was 2nd Overall at the Texas Center Convention in 2004.
Double T Lofts also has quite a few super performance Janssen. One example of our performance Janssen is “Blue Rocket”. “Blue Rocket” is a fairly recent addition to the breeding loft of Double T Lofts. This super cock is 100% Janssen. Three of his grandparents are straight out of the Janssen Brothers loft, and the 4th grandparent is the mother of De Klak’s famous “613”. In fact, one of “Blue Rocket’s” grandfathers sold for $28800 at De Klak’s final auction. The “Blue Rocket’s” race record includes the following: 1st vs. 6,886, 1st vs. 4,546, 1st vs. 2,953, 4th vs. 3,958, etc. Another super cock that we have added to our breeding loft is the outstanding Janssen cock that we call the “Asduif”. This cock was 3 x’s the Combine Ace Pigeon of a 200 member combine. These two cocks along with a number of other super performance Janssen like “Mettet”, “Millenium”, “Topper”, and other super birds make up what we call our performance Janssen.
In December 2002, we were among of the first Americans to visit perhaps the best loft in Holland in the past 7-8 years. We went to the home of Bas and Gerard Verkerk. During that visit we were able to select 9 excellent Verkerk Janssen. They have a family that is predominately DeKlak that has been super since about 1998. Since the initial visit we have imported an additional 13 birds directly and were able to acquire 3 more from Geert Kolvenbag and Mike Ennis that they got direct from the Verkerks. We had immediate success. In our first year breeding, we had 2 hens that flew very well at the distance. One of these hens placed 7th in Division 6 of the Racing Pigeon Digest Long Distance Awards. In 2005 YB’s a 100% Verkerk was our club Ace Pigeon, clocking 5 weeks in a row in the top 10%. We have great hope that this family of outstanding 200-500 mile birds will develop for Double T Lofts into the super family that the Verkerks enjoy in Holland. We are now breeding out of 23 direct Verkerk bred birds.
Tournier / Grizzles
The last family that I want to touch on briefly is our family of long distance Tournier. Our Tournier family primarily consists of grizzles. The majority of these birds are from Jimmy Brands of Belgium and Alois & Luc Van Den Plas, also of Belgium. Both of these lofts are top long distance lofts in the Antwerp Union. In fact, Jimmy Brands was the 1st Ace K.B.D.B. (All Belgium) Extreme Long Distance in 2000, and he was 7th in the same category in 2001. Jimmy Brands has three main cocks, along with their parents, that he considers his best. These three cocks are all brothers, and they were 1st, 3rd, & 5th Aces Extreme Long Distance in the Antwerp Union in 2000. Here at Double T Lofts, we have two children out of each of these three cocks, and we have two brothers of these super long distance aces. The Jimmy Brands’ Tournier grizzles combined with the Tournier grizzles of the Van Den Plas’ has proven to be super here in the U.S.A. In fact, a son of a Jimmy Brands’ cock, “Trademark”, mated to one of our Van Den Plas hens was 8th in the 2003 Vegas Classic. Similarly, we have had great success with them here at our loft. Our Tournier grizzles fly very well both as young and old birds.
Our Philosophy
Our birds are housed in three different lofts. Our breeding loft is about 50’ x 50’ with the center opening to the air. This loft consists of 5 group breeding lofts, 6 large holding pens, 16 individual breeding pens, and 4 polygamous breeding pens. Each loft has an aviary attached that allows the birds to get outside. My father’s flying loft is approximately 18’ x 48’. His flying loft contains 2 young bird sections and 2 widowhood cock sections. During the old bird season, one of the young bird lofts is used to house the widowhood hens. Also in my father’s flying loft are 2 group breeding lofts and 8 more individual breeding pens. All of our individual breeding pens are 3’ wide x 5 ½’ deep x 7’ tall, and each individual breeding pen has a 4’ x 4’ x 4’ aviary attached on the outside. My flying loft is 16’ x 24’, and it contains 5 sections. There are 2 young bird lofts, 2 old bird lofts, and a section of nest boxes for the old birds. All of the lofts are well ventilated with the air coming in from the bottom and leaving through the top. All of the flying lofts have solid plywood floors, and our breeding loft has expanded metal floors 3’ off of the ground. Each of the lofts are cleaned daily by a full time employee, and cleanliness is a top priority.
At Double T Lofts, we believe that feeding is key to both good racing and the raising of top class healthy youngsters. We feed only Heritage Acres feed, and we have been very happy as well as very successful with that feed. Our breeders are fed approximately ¾ Boost (Heritage Acres breeding mix) & ¼ Ace ( Heritage Acres pellet). Similarly, our youngsters, after weaning, are fed a mixture of 1/3 Boost, 1/3 Ace, & 1/3 Boss (Heritage Acres main racing mix). During racing, we feed our birds a combination of Boss, Euro, Ace, Corn, Super D, Nitro, & Turbo, depending on the distance of the race and other factors. We also mix our own small seed mixture that we use as a treat for the birds.
Vitamins & minerals are also something that we stress. We like to give the birds a number of options when it comes to minerals. We buy a combination of pick stones, pick pots, pink minerals, black minerals, and a number of different types of grit in order to give our birds a wide variety of minerals. Similarly, we give our breeders and sale birds vitamins twice a week, and we give our race birds vitamins once a week.
As far as different products go, we use a number of them. However, the majority of what we use for our race birds are Belgica De Weerd products. These products include B.S. for canker & coccidiosis, Parastop to prevent paratyphoid, and a number of other super products. We have had great success with the Belgica De Weerd products, and we highly recommend them. We also vaccinate all of our youngsters for PMV and Paratyphoid each year.
The system that we use for our young birds is the light system. We keep the lights on for 17 – 18 hours a day in our young bird lofts for our early hatches from the day they are weaned until around May 15th. This, as most people know, gets them through their wing moult before the start of young bird season. We use the lights, as opposed to the dark, because of the extreme heat in Texas during the summer. It is very tough to keep a loft as dark as it would need to be, and get enough ventilation to allow the birds to thrive. We typically train our youngsters 2-3 times a week during the season, and we try to have them out to about 75 miles before the 1st race (100 miles). We keep the sexes separated, and we open the door between the lofts a couple hours before we catch them for basketing. We have been very successful with this system for the last few years. We have won a number of AU, Texas Center, and Digest awards over the past 5 years.
Similarly, we have had great success with our old birds. We have been most successful flying double widowhood. We use the same products for our old and young birds, as far what they are given on certain days. The feeding is also very similar. We have tried a light to heavy method of feeding, and we have tried basically a heavy to heavier method of feeding for both old and young birds. To this point the heavy to heavier method has been more successful. However, we are constantly slightly tinkering with our methods in order to improve. Our old birds, like our young birds, are trained 2-3 times a week. However, as the season goes along and the races get longer, we cut back on the training.
Through our trips to Europe we have been able to obtain a number of super pigeons, and learn more about how Europeans’ race. These trips have been a highlight of flying pigeons that I never imagined would have been so enjoyable and also so educational. Through visiting fanciers like Serge Van Elsacker, Bas Verkerk (and his father Gerard), Jimmy Brands, Albert Marcelis, Andre Roodhoft, Hillaire Verhellen, Co Verbree, Arie Van Beek, Joop Koch, Alois & Luc Van Den Plas, Jos Van Olmen, and others we have acquired a number of super pigeons. Everyone that we have visited in Belgium and Holland has been very gracious, and I would encourage anyone that has the opportunity to visit Europe. One of the highlights that my father and I enjoyed immensely was sitting in Louis Janssens’ house with Serge Van Elsacker and Andre Roodhooft. Although Louis Janssen does not speak a word of English, I will never forget sitting in his living room with my father, listening to him talk pigeons with two of the best flyers in Belgium.
Our goal at Double T Lofts is to sell quality, racing pigeons, and we want to sell them with the utmost integrity. We want to send out nothing but top quality birds that have the potential to become foundation breeders for our customers. There is hardly anything more gratifying than hearing excellent results from our customers.