Mike Chadwick – Racing Pigeons at the Highest Level
Three-time One Loft Race Final Winner. Proven bloodlines. Results that speak for themselves.
Mike Chadwick is one of the very few pigeon fanciers in the world to have won three One Loft Race finals, and is currently the only loft holding 3 first and 1 second One Loft Race final winners that are all related.
A Lifelong Passion, A Clear Philosophy
Quality over quantity. Selection without compromise.
Mike competes with small numbers compared to many top fanciers, usually sending between 5 and 10 birds per race, while others send well over 100, sometimes as many as 200, more than Mike breeds in an entire season from his compact garden loft.
He first became involved with racing pigeons as a boy in the 1960s, stopping in 1969 when he began working. In 1985, looking for a hobby that would take him out of the office and away from constant travel, he returned to pigeon racing at club and federation level, before deciding to test himself against the very best by entering One Loft Races.
Who could have foreseen that one loft racing would explode across the world?
Mike won his first OLR final in 2014 after “Knocking on the door” for a couple of years before the win. Not only are these birds winning 1st prizes in OLR’s for Mike, but his breeding bloodlines are now coming through for others to win.
2 recent examples for 2025 are that Karl Heinz Wichert won the prestigious Super final in the Europa Masters OLR winter race with a G Child of one of Mike’s birds. Additionally, the 2nd place in the UK’s only FCI OLR – Who Dares Wins – was directly from one of Mike’s birds.
These wins are not from years ago, they are here and now.
Also, in 2025 Mike started the year with 28th and 38th (1st and 2nd UK) in the Pa Mok, Thailand OLR final from an original entry of 3642 birds.
In January 2025 racing in the biggest OLR against the best birds in the world of OLR racing Mike was 24th PATTAYA INTERNATIONAL OLR extra final 600 km.
Additionally these birds have picked up several prizes in other 2025 OLR’s which are listed elsewhere. By the way…Mike was 5th in the Pattaya final race 2023-4 missing out by just 5.1 seconds. (Original entry 10667 birds)
More recently Mike’s birds won 1st UK ace 17th Open in the Ace prize list for Europe’s top OLR the Algarve Golden OLR from a total entry 7262 birds. All 6 of Mike’s birds in the final returned. His birds have now picked up a whopping prize total of over £300,000.
The foundation pair
Leonard & Suzanne
The foundation birds are Leonard (Bred by Guy and Henri Baerts )who is a G Son of National champion Eagle Eye. His long term mate was Suzanne (Bred by Gaby Vandenabeele). Sadly Suzanne died of cancer in 2024. These 2 pigeons are directly responsible as parents, G Parents and GG parents to 3 first one loft final winners, one second prize in final along with 2nd Ace and 17th Ace in the Algarve Golden race.
Incredible II Line
The second pair of foundation birds are a super breeding cock – Incredible II – bred by Jaques and Freddy Vandenheede. Often paired with a fantastic Ronnie Anthoni hen responsible for super racer Scirocco. 5th = 1st in the final Pattaya OLR race in January 2024 clocked just 5.1 seconds behind the first prize winner.
Selection That Creates Winners
Mike’s focus has been to select as additions to the stock loft birds that must be seen to pass on top breeding and prize winning genetics. Very few birds are able to produce multiple breeders and racers so the selection is vigorous.
Mike does not buy on prizes only, the bird must have an exceptional pedigree showing success over many generations. Mike adds a couple of birds annually and the young are then tested against the best in the world. Only the best survive which – when sending just a handful of birds to a race – is vital for success.
The proof of this method can be seen in the pedigrees of the stock birds. Many of the top performances listed are directly from birds bred by Mike.
