Van Oeckel Bart & Nance - Oud-Turnhout: 1st National Tulle 3,726 old birds - fastest of 8,003b.

"Tulleke Lena"
B23-6102426
1st National Tulle 3,726 old birds - fastest of 8,003b.

Distance: 685km
Velocity: 1,396.07 m/m

At the home of Bart and Nance Van Oeckel, they must be living on cloud nine these days. It all began on July 25th when the adorable Phil was born — the pinnacle of happiness for both proud dad Kjenten and grandparents Bart and Nance. This joy extended to the Van Oeckel family's pigeon racing as well, as at Bourges, the hen “Jasmy” secured the title of 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Great Middle Distance.
(For your information: in 2024, Jasmy placed 6th National Ace Pigeon KBDB Great Middle Distance Yearlings, making her a serious candidate for Olympic selection in the middle or long distance categories.) And to top it all off, later that afternoon (at exactly 4:00 PM and 53 seconds), hen “Tulleke Lena” won 1st National Tulle against 3,726 old pigeons. With her average speed of 1,396.07 m/min, she even outpaced all 8,003 pigeons entered in the Tulle race.
Life is beautiful in Oud-Turnhout!

“Tulle Lena”

A small but well-built hen, Tulleke Lena was acquired as an egg from De Bock-De Smeijter (Melden). She is a spirited little bird who already shone last year with, among others, a 20th National Souillac finish against 4,073 pigeons. She’s also a little “adrenaline bomb” who doesn't shy away from sprinting in speed and middle distance races, with performances like: 1st Noyon (923 birds) - 6th Melun (630 birds) and 10th Quievrain (947 birds)
“Like many others, we’ve also suffered some losses this year,” says Bart, “not just ‘ordinary’ pigeons, but also top performers that were well ranked in various championships.” One of the “fallen” was Tulle Lena’s partner, which led her to search for a new love.
And indeed… Tulle Lena found herself a tough new cock bird. New love can be a great motivator, and sure enough… last weekend (26/07) at Argenton, she finished 60th national against 4,077 old birds.
The Tulle race turned into a real millimeter sprint, and when Van Oeckel wins 1st national, you can bet their good friends Jan and Marleen Broeckx are also up there in the national results — and yes… Jan and Marleen took 2nd national, just 0.17 m/min behind! On the day of basketing for Tulle, the Van Oeckel pigeons also flew Quievrain (136 km), meaning Tulle Lena flew: Argenton (22/07 – 284th National against 4,758 birds – liberated Tuesday), Argenton (26/07 – 60th National), Training flight Quievrain (Wednesday 30/07), and then Tulle.

Feeding, as in many places, starts with low-protein mixes early in the week, building up towards the race.
However, once the season is in full swing and the birds are flying a lot of kilometers, the low-protein mix bag is barely opened.
As for supplements, they place full trust in Herbovet products like Herbosol, Herbochol, CMB (magnesium), Herbo Pigeon Elite, as well as protein supplements from Beyers.

Given the incredibly strong 2025 season, we will certainly return this winter with an in-depth report on this top colony.

We once again congratulate them on their 8th national victory — and who knows, maybe there’s still more to come this season.
They truly deserve it.

Stefan Mertens

Stefan Mertens