Daan Roosen's strong marathon base

Daan Roosen was born with a passion for marathon racing. A passion he inherited from his grandfather, Arthur Machiels. His "Polleke" was a superior champion. The kind of guy who doesn't have the word "failure" in his vocabulary. "Polleke" was more than a fixture in grandfather Arthur's racing team, and grandson Daan certainly noticed. During his career, "Polleke" won several top prizes in Barcelona, ​​Perpignan, and Montauban, but most impressively, at the age of seven, he won 15th National Perpignan against 5,572 pigeons and, at the end of the season, was crowned 2nd Provincial Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance KBDB.

"Polleke"...a pigeon that can't be broken. At the age of 10, in 2014, he moved to grandson Daan's lofts and has now had a serious impact on the breeding loft in a short time. His DNA carries the blood of the old Nouwen-Paesen breed, and we know that these pigeons aren't afraid to pass on their excellent genes to multiple generations. Because this pigeon could still perform at such a high age, Daan primarily sought out "Dutch marathon blood" to cross with. This proved a great success with most of them, and now it's primarily the second and third generations that will have to make their mark in the racing loft. For your information, "Polleke" bred until 2019.

Founding sire "Polleke" is the sire and grandfather of (only top 30 national placings):

2nd international Agen '23
2nd national Marseille '19
2nd national Narbonne '21
6th national Perpignan '25
18th national Souillac '21
19th national Agen '25
26th national Agen '19
30th national Marseille

Etc.

In addition, one daughter and three grandchildren have already become 1st Provincial Ace Pigeons:

1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance 2019 (Rita)
1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance 2020 (Gloria)
1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Long Distance 2021 (New Polleke)
1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance 2023 (218-21)

Daan enthusiastically continues the conversation: “One of my best pigeons is Rita, herself winner of 1st Provincial Ace Pigeon Extreme Long Distance 2019 and 2nd National Marseille. She already has several youngsters that fly early, including Emma (mother of lot 3), 2nd International Agen 2023.

Emma's sire is Louis. Louis is the sire of two provincial winners and five different pigeons that have finished in the top five provincially.

Another very good breeder is Ludo (sire of lot 9). A daughter of his won in 2023: 30th nat. Marseille and 71st nat. Pau, making her 1st provincial ace pigeon extreme long-distance in 2023. The dam of this hen is Miss Hoevenen (dam of lot 9). She is also the dam of the 2nd nat. Narbonne in 2021.

Nest racing is preferred here.

The racing team is raced on the nest for the extreme long distance. Both cocks and hens are basketed, and in winter, the sexes are housed together in a shelter and come out once or twice a week to prevent flying injuries. From mid-March, the racing team is darkened (from 5:30 PM to 7:30 AM) along with the young pigeons, until four weeks before basketing for the first extreme long distance race (usually Pau). The pigeons are raced as much as possible initially to allow them to cover a considerable distance. The pigeons are paired based on the extreme long distance, and they usually fly to their first race on eggs that are 10-14 days old. Afterwards, they are trained again to establish a nest for their second race. This also usually involves incubating for 10 to 12 days. Daan works with three teams because it's difficult to plan everything properly due to losses during preparation, or because pairs need to find new partners.
Jelle Jellema mixtures (Beyers) are used for feeding.
Supplemental lighting is also used at Roosen's house, and from June 21st, the longest day of the year is observed here until the last race. For the old birds, this is Perpignan, and for the youngsters, this is usually until the last middle-distance races. They, too, need to gain the necessary experience in their year of birth.

Results 2025 season

Pau: 9th nat. 3028 p.
Agen old birds: 6, 24, … nat. 4839 p.
Agen yearlings: 19, 34, 58, 150, 170, … nat. 5314 p.
Barcelona: 160, 290, 334, … nat. 5819 p.
Narbonne old birds: 23, 43, 89, 106, 109, 159, … nat. 4021 p.
Narbonne yearlings: 19, 34, 51, 194, … nat. 3734 p.
Perpignan: 6, 20, 47, 59, 172, 200, … nat. 3522 p.

In 2025, our pigeon "Klaas," a son of "Crack 808" from Saarloos (Klaaswaal), developed into a very good breeder. Two of his children won a provincial race (Pau, Vince, and Perpignan). Another daughter (Christel, mother of lot 8) was our first from Narbonne. "Klaas" is the sire of lot 2 and the grandfather of lots 1 and 8.

Also successful in other lofts.

Daan explains with a certain pride in his voice: "A great reference is that a hen (a daughter of Kilo (see lots 3 and 7) of mine is the dam of Frans Tops's 1st International Ace Pigeon Agen over two years. This pigeon is also the first National Ace Pigeon Agen over three years. He won 2nd, 26th, and 55th National Agen."

Exclusively for Pigeon Bids, Daan is offering carefully selected pigeons from his proven marathon pigeons:
This online sale ends Thursday, March 5, 2026, at 2:00 PM.(c.e.t.)

Some of the top pigeons are: