Hok Bommerez from Heverlee confirms with 1st Prov Ace Pigeon great middle distance KBDB 2023
29 Feb 2024
The colony of Michel and Maarten Bommerez from Heverlee in Flemish Brabant has continued its status in 2023. With their best hen “Chiara” they won 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon great middle distance KBDB and this hen also became 5th National Ace Pigeon great middle distance KBDB. For father Michel, pigeon racing is a hobby and will always remain so, family and his job have always stood for this. Now he is enjoying his retirement and son Maarten is more passionate than father Michel. It is not easy for son Maarten because he lives and works in London, but fortunately today's online world is an advantage for being able to follow a lot. As a result, they communicate very often and the cameras film the arrivals online so that Maarten can still experience his part of pigeon racing every week.
Both Michel and Maarten each have their own opinion and they dare to differ, but that is perfectly possible. No one is flawless and there is always consultation. A pigeon fancier who makes as few mistakes as possible during the season will have a super season.
The 2023 season went well with a provincial victory at Chateauroux, several pigeons at the top of the national results and a test in the one-day long distance by participating in Souillac, where Maarten in particular was very much looking forward to the hen “Batwoman”. She was not disappointed and won an 11th National against almost 5,000 pigeons.
Olivier Poussart's references continue and with 3 National winners and a 1st National Ace Pigeon, he is also doing fantastically and you can rely on a very strong breeding loft here. They certainly want to continue on this path in the coming years.
The story behind this colony
In the early 1980s I had a few pigeons, but due to the busy job I stopped in 1986. In 1992 Maarten made his solemn communion and thanks to the good relationship with the late Filip and Jos Herbots, the pigeon sport started again, they learned a lot from both gentlemen and they are still very grateful to them for that. Over the years they wanted to go more and more towards the long distance and extreme long distance. Michel wrote articles and auctions for the Reisduif and LCB through which he came into contact with several fanciers. That love did not last because between the period 2000 and 2010 we could not be busy with the pigeons as we wanted, Maarten went to university in 2000 and in 2002 to Japan for his studies, so that everything went back to zero. Michel retired in 2010 and the extreme long distance pigeons were still present, but since
Maarten's return to Europe in 2013, they had changed hands. They wanted to play with the pigeons and not wait for hours before all pigeons were home.
They focused on the Gaby Vandenabeele pigeons. They bought a few and got several on loan from the Herbots family, the Gaby blood also came to Heverlee through Theo Weytjens. Afterwards it was mainly the line of Patrick Vervloesem and Rik & Jan Hermans that did fantastic here.
In the current breeding loft they now have 2 main lines: “Gloria” and “Pelican” (Vandenabeele) and “Jaarling Dondersteen” and “Bazooka” (Rik Hermans). These were then supplemented with pigeons from, among others, Patrick Vervloesem, DVV, Annick Goeteyn, Jules and Yves Engels Theo Weytjens, Johny Jonckers, Jespers-Vanderwegen, Leekens-Bosmans, Wouters-Wouters, Gaston Van de Wouwer, exchanged with Willy Daniels etc. They currently have 40 pairs of breeders where they do a lot of re-pairing.
Only with hens
Like several fanciers, the game with hens has also been chosen here. Little work, a nice group and let's fly. The racing team consists annually of 35-40 old pigeons supplemented with yearlings. Especially 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds do very well here because they are not tested as young pigeons. They get a natural hard selection and that's where it ends. They can then show themselves as yearlings, but if you go through the best pigeons from this colony, it is usually the 2nd and 3rd year that they are really at the top of their game. This is due to their system, because I am sure if you race these pigeons in national flights as a youngster they will also be there.
The racing hens do nothing in the winter of breeding and come outside as much as possible. Only when there is snow. During the season itself they fly a maximum of 2x 40 minutes per day. We prefer that they fly for less time but that they come out, are quickly out of sight and fly very high in the air. A pigeon fancier always has his ideal training personally in front of him. No matter how they train or do it, with us it is high and fast training.
With a large racing team, isn't it difficult to motivate everything?
That's exactly right, we have 20 cocks for all our hens. We therefore leave them in series with the cocks just before basketing. This time period is very short but they are smart enough to know what is going on. On basketing day they train in the morning anyway and they get their last feeding at 4 p.m. This is in the loft next to the resting loft where there are simply slats on the floor and a food bowl is provided. This is a spacious aviary where they can eat and drink and then return to the resting cage. When they return home there is a bit of chaos at first because they come home to each other for such a short time, but the time period that they see their cocks is very short. Afterwards, when the middle distance and national races are in progress, they are allowed to stay with the cocks for a maximum of 1 hour. The middle distance pigeons are usually already recovering in the rest loft when they return home from the national races.
Young pigeons
Back to the young pigeons, they are not darkened and the 1st round is in the loft next to the racing hens. The 2nd and 3rd rounds are on the right side of the garden and follow the same regime.
Our system gives us fresh yearlings with little experience. We have noticed that our pigeons are certainly not exhausted at the age of 2 and 3 and can still fly to the head. A real winner who is super at 2 years old can also earn her place in the breeding loft, we are not afraid of that. In recent years, we have mainly focused on our own proven pigeons, which will hopefully become the top breeders of our colony within a few seasons.
Best birds from the last seasons
BE 20-2020339 “Chiara” Hen
1 Prov Ace Great Middle Distance KBDB 2023
5 Nat Ace Great Middle Distance KBDB 2023
1 Prov Chateauroux 1.038p ( 13 Nat 8.075p )
14 Nat (z) Argenton 1.472p
23 Nat Bourges 7.270p
26 Prov Salbris 558p
32 Nat (z) Bourges 2.290p
49 Prov Salbris 761p
50 Soissons 1.344p
69 I.Prov.Vierzon 8.922p
74 Soissons 1.615p
97 Nat Argenton 9.851p
½ sister “Aston Martin” 1 Nat Bourges 24.496p
½ sister “063” 14 Nat Ace long distance KBDB 2020 – 1 Trelou 1.037p – 8 Nat (z) Brive 747p – 11 Prov Limoges 2.365p – 12 Nat (z) Souillac 1.305p
Sire BE 15-4259525 Orpheus – Annick Goeteyn
Brother “Orlandor” 1 Nat (z) Tulle 2.572p – 10 Nat (z) Argenton 3.455p
Brother “Orlandia” 14 Nat La Souterraine 2.594p – 18 Nat Gueret 11.894p – 19 Nat Montlucon 19.298p
Brother “Andora” 2 Prov Orléans 3.578p
Son from super pair “Orlando” x “Nicofelia” who is grandmother from 2 x 1st National Bourges
Dam BE 16-2050543 Twice is Nice
½ sister “Octomove” 35 Nat Argenton 7.099p – 37 Nat Chateauroux 9.847p – 84 Nat La Souterraine 3.118p
Daughter from “Cheops” ( Rik Hermans x Vervloesem ) x “Guilty Pleasure” Gaby Vandenabeele
BE 19-2027653 “Tiny Rebel” Hen
This hen has not stolen her name, as a youngster she was not trained and she was away from the loft for a few weeks. As a yearling she occasionally classified her well, but from 2021 she started flying top, she continued that in 2022 where she flew very strong but unfortunately was injured in June. She was then allowed to retire and go to the breeding loft, she classified her as 19th World Best Pigeon Middle Distance 2022.
1 Prov Argenton 1.559p
18 NAT 20.467p
1 Club Salbris 761p
3 Br.Unie 1.655p
2 Club Bourges 1.169p
8 Nat (z) 4.514p
5 Soissons 574p
7 Sermaises 1.370p
20 Melun 1.204p
67 Prov Vierzon 1.296p
68 Prov Bourges 3.095p
Sire BE 16-2289575 “Kalypso”
1/2 brother “Missing Wing” mother from “Patrick” 1st National Tulle 7.267p by Olivier Poussart
½ brother “Route 66” 10 Nat Bourges 8.340p and 16 Nat Bourges 10.173p
Son from “Pelican Cluster” 100% Gaby Vandenabeele x “Fijn Bont” Vanoppen Luyten
Dam BE 14-3150591 “Skyfall” Orig.Gaby Vandenabeele
Daughter from “399/10” Son Neptunus x “764/09” Inbred Champion Chris Hebberecht
BE 19-2027750 “Flower Power” Hen
5 Prov Vierzon 749p
7 Nat (z) Chateauroux 991p
8 Nat (z) Bourges 4.514p
10 Prov Argenton 2.527p
17 Prov Chateauroux 1.041p
22 Soissons 1.806p
27 Prov Salbris 450p
33 Prov Blois 1.165p
37 Soissons 1.387p
Sire BE 17-2148549 Forty Niner
Son from “Hugo Boss” (Gaby Vandenabeele) x “Orphelia” Annick Goeteyn
Mother BE 15-2000914 “Fiorentina”
Won 2 Chevrainvilliers 281p – 4 Melun 517p – 7 Blois 337p – 9 Melun 261p – 68 Nat Bourges 5.831p – 73 Nat (z) Bourges 3.236p
Daughter from “Blue Diamond” ( Grandson Kannibaal Dirk Van Dijck ) x “Floriane” ( Patrick Vervloesem )
BE 21-2072801 “Batwoman” Hen
Won an 11th National Souillac against 4,827 pigeons in a long distance race in 2023.
She previously also won 13 Issoudun 556p – 19 Bourges 342p – 31 Gueret 488p – 49 Sermaises 924p
Sire BE 19-2027644 Big Shot – 100% Gaby Vandenabeele
Nestbrother “Big Louise” 3 Prov Salbris 1.832p
Son from “Big Deal” x “Eloise” ( Granddaughter Neptunus )
Dam BE 18-2009127 Isolde
Won 3 Chevrainvilliers 366p – 8 Nat Issoudun 10.603p – 25 Prov Fay Aux Loges 1.561p – 61 Prov Salbris 4.074p – 206 Nat Gueret 7.175p
Daughter from “Daydream” x “Platina Bliksem” ( Granddaughter and inbred Bliksem )
Best results 2023
Momignies 317 old birds : 1,7,12,14,16,…
Soissons 649 old birds : 2,13,21,22,23,37,39,47,49,63,… 23/36
Bourges 477 old birds : 2,4,7,12,27,42,47,… 15/30
Blois Prov 1.179 old birds : 21,33,38,39,43,… 8/13
Blois Prov 1.165 old birds : 5,6,22,26,27,33,34,36,37,43,75,79,88,97,… 22/27
Vierzon Prov 709 old birds : 11,56,… 6/8
Argenton Nat 11.295 old birds : 119,243,661,954,970,… 7/17
Argenton Prov 1.019 old birds : 6,35,74,… 10/16
Bourges Nat 7.270 old birds : 23,218,348,358,371,701,709,712,… 15/19
Chateauroux Prov 1.041 old birds : 1,17,49,54,68,69,72,… 13/20
Souillac Nat 4.827 old birds : 11,106,220,… 4/6
Championships 2023
1 Prov Ace great middle distance KBDB ( Chiara )
5 Nat Ace great middle distance KBDB ( Chiara )
6 Champion great middle distance Brabantse Unie
7 Prov Champion great middle distance KBDB
8 Ace great middle distance Brabantse Unie ( Decathlon )
9 Prov Ace great middle distance KBDB ( Decathlon )
Michel and Maarten, many congratulations on the current achievements here and elsewhere from the entire HERBOTS TEAM.
Buelens Kim
