De Bliksem was clocked at 11:56’53” after completing 466.765km with a velocity of 1655.90 m/min. He was exactly 2 cm per minute or a mere second faster than his closest competitor, a pigeon of Hugo Vlaeminck from Ruppelmonde. This was quite a tight game!
Andrea Morren and her husband René Flossie
De Bliksem
Andrea and René were not all that surprised to see Bliksem BE12-2012411 take the national win. He had already won 10 prizes in 11 races, including 8 prizes per ten. You can find his impressive palmares of 2014 below:
27/04 Soissons 314 p. 3°
04/05 Soissons 207 p. 27°
17/05 Gien Club 182 p. 10°
Getedal 701 p. 36°
31/05 Bourges I Club 764 p. 1°
Zone C1 5,144 p. 2°
Nat. 22,663 p. 9°
07/06 Chateauroux I Club 626 p. 16°
Zone C1 3,820 p. 130°
Nat. 17,984 p. 1.629°
21/06 Montlucon Club 653 p. 8°
Zone C1 3,368 p. 25°
Nat. 14,230 p. 548°
05/07 Argenton I Club 315 p. 18°
Zone C1 1,765 p. 147°
Nat. 7,691 p. 278°
19/07 Sourdun Club 77 p. 13°
Getedal 233 p. 30°
26/07 Lorris Club 36 p. 1°
Getedal 155 p. 6°
02/08 Bourges II Club 392 p. 1°
Nat. 8,008 p. 1°
He came to the fore as a yearling winning a ninth prize in a very tough race from Souillac (720km) against 972 pigeons, while also achieving a great result from La Souterraine and Nevers.
De Bliksem is a wonderful looking cock that is very in control, just like the fancier. His attitude changes when he gets to see his partner tough, but he usually comes to rest as soon as he is basketed. De Bliksem was raced in classic widowhood and could spend some more time with his hen compared to previous races, because Bourges was the last flight of the season. The hens are shown every time the pigeons are basketed, and the duration depends on the expected conditions in the race and the time of the year.
As you can tell from the pedigree, his grandfather from his father’s side is a son of one of the national winners of Noël Peiren from Zedelgem. The sire of Bliksem was obtained from Paul Marcon. The dam of De Bliksem is Sneeuwtje, a direct Raymond Tuts (Geetbets, E), and she originates from the bloodlines of Gommair Verbruggen (Scherpenheuvel, BE) and the old breed of Jan Grondelaers. The sire of Den Bliksem got lost in the race from Moulin as an old bird, and he landed in the loft of a German fancier more than 300km from home. That fancier gave him some time to recover, after which he quickly flew back to Geetbets. A big thank you goes to the German fancier whose name is not known. René only has a team of cocks that are raced in classic widowhood. They started the season with 25 widowers and René raises about 80 young birds every season. The young birds are raced only to prepare for their later seasons as yearlings and old birds.
Origins
Andrea and her husband René Flossie moved from the nearby town of Loksbergen to Geetbets in 2007, and René Flossie, the brain behind the pigeon collection, started racing pigeons from their current home under the name of Andrea Morren.
René Flossie is a modest man. He does not boast about his achievements, but he is without doubt a highly motivated and dedicated fancier who knows how to breed successful pigeons. He does not bother to store his results in digital form, and so he leaves that to his wife and son. Rene did really well in his previous loft in Loksbergen until 2007, claiming several provincial victories in Limburg:
1990 Bourges young birds 1997 Argenton yearlings 1999 Chateauroux old birds 2002 Chateauroux yearlings 2005 Argenton yearlings
In addition, he won several championship titles and ace pigeon titles, two of which deserve special mention:
1997 Ace Pigeon yearlings longer middle distance in central and east Belgium 2002 Ace Pigeon yearlings longer middle distance in central and east Belgium
As we said earlier, René started keeping pigeons in a new loft in Geetbets in 2008. He races a team of young birds under the name of Andrea Morren here. In addition, he continued to race a team of yearlings and old birds from his old loft in Loksbergen in 2008 and 2009 as well. However, René told us that keeping pigeons in two different locations is quite a task, and so he decided to no longer use his loft in Loksbergen after 2009. 2014 has been his most successful season so far, with several first prizes and a 50% prize percentage in the national longer middle distance races!
The breed of Andrea Morren is founded on the old breed of René’s loft in Loksbergen, mixed up with different pigeons of Roger Buvens (Loksbergen, BE), Raymond Tuts, Noël Peiren (Zedelgem, BE), Michel Janssens (Wilsele, BE), Albert & Stefan Steenbergen (Herk de Stad, BE), Jozef Fets (Kortenaken, BE) and Koen Vandevelde (Rummen, BE).
Medical guidance/feed
The veterinary surgeon is consulted only to administer vaccinations. There is a treatment against trichomoniasis in spring, and René tries to keep his pigeons in good health using fresh natural products. He provides fresh vegetables from his garden every day, and some garlic is added to the drinking water as well. The pigeons get some tea every Sunday and Monday, and some fitness powder is added to the feed on Wednesday and Thursday.
The daily feed consists of mixtures of Stephan Anthoons (Kortenaken). René is particularly satisfied with the Anthoons Super Recovery mixture.
We are convinced that this will not be the last national victory for René and Andrea. We look forward to the next top result from this honest but hard working fancier.