Daniel Beelen from Kumtich became 2nd National Champion middle distance olds and yearlings KBDB 2024
19 Feb 2025
We visit Daniel Beelen in Kumtich, Flemish Brabant, near the municipality of Tienen. Daniel has lived here with his wife Nicole since 1988 and pigeon racing has been part of his life from an early age. His grandfather had pigeons and on Sundays playing pigeons was much more fun than going to mass. He was introduced to this sport at a young age and in the village where he lives there were many specialists who were virtually neighbors with each other. He quickly noticed one important motto. If your neighbors can catch early pigeons, I should be able to do the same, simple. That is why he never avoided the competition from the start and always sought out the strongest playing clubs to make the selection even tougher.
In the beginning, Daniel had pigeons from friends he knew, but the first good pigeons came from André Vandenhove, Patrick Spilsteyns and the late Romain Schutters, with whom he raced tandem for several years. In this period it was mainly about fast pigeons because at that time almost only speed was played. It was only later that he switched to the middle distance and for a few years now also to the national flights.
That's why he started knocking on fanciers who could beat me. These were Andre Bernaerts, Gilbert Theunis, Albert Vangoidsenhoven and the late Alex Vrindts. A man who has given him a lot of good advice and advice is Edgard Timmermans, a man who may have had pigeons for 60 years but could always be found among the better fanciers in our region.
That's why he started knocking on fanciers who could beat me. These were Andre Bernaerts, Gilbert Theunis, Albert Vangoidsenhoven and the late Alex Vrindts. A man who has given him a lot of good advice and advice is Edgard Timmermans, a man who may have had pigeons for 60 years but could always be found among the better fanciers in our region.
In 2009 I went to Karel Ceusters, where one of my stock hens came from. In 2017 I bought a top breeder from Eric Goovaerts and in 2020 I added pigeons from Ivo Renders. In recent years there have been additions from the late Roger Buvens, Michel Lossignol, Geert Lambrechts and Stefaan Lambrechts. The latest acquisitions come from Schroyen – Stockmans.
Daniel has had a super season in 2024, one of the better seasons of his career, which means he can still be found in several national championships with, among others, 2nd National Champion middle distance olds and yearlings KBDB 2024 and also winner of our Golden As competition in the middle distance with his wonder hen “Alexia”, which was named after his good friend the late Alex Vrindts.
Top results 2024
1 Golden As middle distance Herbots Championship
2 National Champion middle distance olds + yearlings KBDB
3 Prov Chateauroux 2,248 young pigeons
4 National Ace Pigeon middle distance olds KBDB
5 Ace pigeon yearlings Herbots Championship
5 Champion middle distance olds and yearlings Flanders Herbots Championship
13 National Ace pigeon middle distance yearlings KBDB
68 + 89 National Vierzon 16,892 young pigeons
Classic widowhood with both cocks and hens
Both sexes are raced here in classic widowhood, Daniel has 2 lofts for cocks and 1 loft for hens. The widowers raise the breeders' first round in the winter and the young of the best cocks are kept themselves, while the hens are only coupled at the beginning of March. They are then raced for their first flights on a nest so that they are in widowhood for the middle distance races by the end of April.
The hens stay in a resting loft where chapels are provided and roll on the bottom of the floor. So they cannot mate with each other. The daily training here is once a day for each loft. In the morning the hens train first, then the widowers and then the young pigeons. Only in the run-up to the season are the pigeons released in the afternoon to avoid the real cold. The training of the hens is never long, especially not during the season, but I don't worry about that anymore as long as the results are there. The cocks train more easily for 45 to 50 minutes. On the day of basketing, training only takes place when the middle distance races are played. If the speed basketing is on Friday, they do not train on Friday morning.
The widowers are prepared for training at the end of March if the weather is good. During that period of 4 to 5 days they get their hen again and they stay together the entire time to get the hang of widowhood. During the season itself, when basketing, they only see the dish for 5 minutes. Afterwards, 1 or 2 hens will be shown in the middle of the season, but no more. When they return home, they are allowed to stay together briefly in the first flights of the season and from the national flights this is until the evening. This is different with the hens and they always get to see their cock at basketing and they stay together until the following morning.
In 2024 he had 12 hens and for this season this will increase to 15, so he also has 20 cocks ready.
At the beginning of August the leash is removed and the cocks are allowed to breed while the hens are allowed to raise a young one. The pigeons are basketted almost every week, especially the hens.
2 National Ace pigeons of the 2024 season
BE 21-2070798 “Alexia” Blue Hen
1st Golden As middle distance Herbots Championship 2024
4th National Ace Pigeon middle distance old birds KBDB 2024
Wins 10 x 1st – 15 x per 100
1 Lorris 1.058p
1 Lorris 400p
1 Lorris 161p
1 Momignies 147p
1 Sermaises 134p
1 Lorris 59p
2 Lorris 516p ( 1 - 165p )
2 Soissons 315p
2 Soissons 122p
2 Orléans 105p
3 Momignies 2.803p ( 1 - 627p )
3 Orléans 1.235p
3 Lorris 774p
4 Lorris 173p
5 Soissons 1.374p
5 Lorris 1.017p
5 Sermaises 179p
6 Lorris 874p
7 Momignies 1.794p ( 1 – 200p )
10 Lorris 507p
11 Soissons 915p
12 Gien 1.800p
13 Soissons 346p
14 Lorris 1.128p ( 1 -52p )
17 Soissons 446p
22 Nanteuil 753p
22 Lorris 716p
22 Gien 615p
24 Momignies 1.581p
106 Lorris 4.281p
Father BE 18-2018099 Blue – Albert Vangoidsenhoven
Son of “BE 16-728” Blue Ivan Stockmans x “BE 18-077” Blue Ivan Stockmans
Mother BE 20-2046704 Pale – Alex Vrindts
Won 2 x 1st
Daughter of “BE 18-616” Pale Andre Schutters top breeder
BE 23-2041264 “Andrea” Dark checkered Hen
5th Ace Pigeon yearlings Herbots Championship 2024
13th National Ace Pigeon middle distance yearlings KBDB 2024
1 Lorris 238p
2 Gien 976p ( 1-431p )
3 Lorris 536p
3 Lorris 499p ( 1 – 89p )
3 Lorris 401p
3 Lorris 246p
3 Lorris 233p
6 Lorris 355p
10 Gien 369p
14 Gien 912p
14 Momignies 900p
71 Lorris 1.223p
Father BE 19-5082694 Gaston – Buvens – Sleven
½ brother of 2 Nat Issoudun 18,176p – 73 Nat Argenton 26,085p
Son of “BE 11-694” Son of stock couple Roger Buvens x “BE 16-715” Denise is daughter of top hen Chanelle and granddaughter of stock couple Roger Buvens
Mother BE 21-2110423 Daughter Olympic Geert – Michel Lossignol
½ sister “Stuntman” 1 Sermaises 3,258p – 1 Momignies 3,055p – 1 Momignies 1,158p.
He is father of 1 Prov Ace Pigeon middle distance olds KBDB 2024 – 9 Nat Ace Pigeon middle distance olds KBDB 2024
½ sister “148/18” 7 Nat Ace Pigeon middle distance KBDB 2020
1 Chevrain 770p – 1 Soissons 324p – 1 Chevrain 170p
Daughter of “BE 17-919” Olympic Geert x “NL 17-440” Granddaughter Zidane Willem De Bruijn and mother of, among others, 3 Nat Gueret 7,175p
Young pigeons
The young pigeons are divided over 2 lofts and there are usually 70 to 75 of them. The intention for several years has been to have them fly at least 1 national flight, but preferably 2. They are darkened from the end of February to the beginning of June and then lightened from the beginning of July until the last flight of the season.
The young pigeons have an aviary at the front of the loft where they can stay, especially in the beginning, to explore the area. They can sit in this during the day until the flights start. The windows are then open for ventilation, but they remain behind the stick walls in the hallway. Then the aviary is only used for bathing.
They are raced here on the sliding door from the middle distance and on Wednesday or Thursday they are raced to Gembloux, then the pigeons are allowed to stay together for a short time when they return home and are then basketed. After the flight they can always stay together until the evening.
The youngsters of 2024 had a nice habit during their first training flights. They always flew for 60 minutes or close to this number, even at a few kilometers. They had never passed home but preferred to fly for an hour. Once they went on their first flights, this went away during the extra driving during the week and they were always home before me.
After the season, all lofts are thoroughly disinfected with Dettol and everything is burned down with a gas burner.
Power supply
I use 3 mixtures here. The widowers receive Sport Hi-Tech from Anthoons together with Champion Black Label Versele - Laga and some peanuts at the end of the week. From the middle distance onwards, I only feed the hens Girl Power from Aidi. The young pigeons are mainly given Super Recup Anthoons for their first speed flights. Then I switch to the feeding system of the cocks for their heavier flights of the season.
Medical
We have check-ups here twice a year anyway. This is for the breeding and racing season. Pigeons in good health are the beginning of everything. If things don't go well during the season I will go for another check-up, but otherwise not. The veterinarians consulted are Vincent Schroeder and Neornivet.
During the season I use a short tricho treatment of 2 days with tricho green every 3 weeks. When they return home, they are given Tollyamin together with Nano Tollyamin in the drinking water and they are given Immunol in the food to strengthen the proteins. On the day of basketing I give Nano Tollyamin in the drinking water and Tollyamin Forte over the food. All these products come from Schroeder – Tollisan.
Daniel & Nicole, congratulations on your great season from the entire HERBOTS TEAM and good luck in 2025.
Buelens Kim
