It is and remains a tough competitor to enter the arena with our 82-year-old former policeman from Kruishoutem-Kruisem. It is as if Marnix and his pigeons will not wear out. Sporty and tough, made for the difficult sport and can suffer when necessary. When we ask about Marnix's health, he answers "good, I had some pain in my shoulder, but only some physiotherapy and it was fine, no injections, pure nature" and he hops on as it were. He is also not to be swept off the table in pigeon racing. A cowardly pigeon theft robbed him of quite a few basic pigeons from his breeding loft, but they cannot get him down with such a dirty deed.
Since last year he has also been forced to reduce his pigeon installations. Part of the garden was taken up by an upcoming subdivision and the installation had to be reduced out of necessity. He has fewer lofts and also fewer pigeons. Marnix used to have a lot of lofts with few pigeons because he firmly believes in the territorial instinct of pigeons that perform at the top. But Marnix would not be Marnix if he had not been creative in this as well. He divided the remaining lofts into smaller compartments and here he can return to the system he knows of a few pigeons in a loft.

High quality

Marnix has already won a lot in his life from Eurodiamond to national Tulle, a series of top prizes in the extreme long distance and a house full of mementos of top rankings, little of these things are foreign to him. All this is the result of constantly striving for quality in the loft. A fine eye for the good pigeon, a well-thought-out breeding strategy and top-notch care are his options. The pigeons are not forced or played to death as young pigeons or as yearlings. They are allowed to grow and when they are fully mature they are allowed to go full throttle. The basis of his breeding loft is still his old lines (Euro-Diamond, Zaf, the pigeons of Pijcke from Ronse, Johan De Meulemeester, a dash of Hebberecht and that's it). Here and there a joint breeding with another top loft has also often been the key to later successes. Marnix also has beautiful pigeons, good in the hand, and especially (which is something of a hobbyhorse for Marnix) a beautiful eye with lots of pigment and charisma. The current season was only started with 10 yearlings and 16 old pigeons of which there are now 6 yearlings left. Also on the first extreme long distance flight from Pau the 1st nominated was lost on the battlefield. It is sensible to deal with the available resources but that does not make the results any less. What was never the case in the past has now happened. The racing pigeons have raised young for the season (out of necessity due to the theft of pigeons).

February coupling resulted in 30 to 35 young pigeons that can hopefully be raced nationally. The widowers train twice a day freely (where the flag was used before). Veterinarian Chris Decoene does an annual check-up before the season and no treatments were necessary. In case of doubt, Marnix prefers to treat a pigeon individually, better than to treat an entire loft. The day after returning home, each pigeon gets a yellow drop in each nostril. The pigeons are fed separately and after each feeding they get some grit mix, which according to Marnix they are crazy about. The food is the Vanrobaeys range (57-58 energy mix) and sometimes some vitamins are added to the drinking pot, although Marnix is ​​not convinced that this is necessary when the pigeons are fed well. When basketing for a heavy long-distance flight, each cock gets to see his hen for half an hour.

Kittel wins Agen old pigeons provincial East Flanders

It is a beauty in the hand, strong pigeon, soft plumage and a very expressive eye. This 4-year-old cock has a little story around him because in 2024 he flew himself to pieces against a window at the back of the house. Marnix picked him up as dead, the pigeon was unconscious and only regained consciousness after a few minutes. It was a matter of waiting to see what would happen and whether there would be any internal injuries. After a few days everything started moving again and he became the playful normal pigeon of the past again... with strong results as a result.

His father comes from the old lines of the pigeons Pijcke and Euro Diamond. His mother is a cross between pigeons from Chris Hebberecht and Marieke's own kind. In the past he already flew 178th nat Tulle, 74th nat Brive, 85th nat Libourne, 11th nat Dax, 113th nat Cahors, 194th Perpignan, in other words a pigeon with a very strong record.

Normally he is still basketed for the extreme long distance flight. The condition will determine which flight this will be, but this beautiful provincial victory (and 5th national of 4,839 pigeons) is already on his record!

Congratulations to Marnix and Kittel with this beautiful victory from the Herbots team!

Geert Dhaenens