A long list of first prize winnes and national ace pigeons have enabled Maarten Huijsmans to raise the bar time and time again, eventually allowing him to win a national championship title in the middle distance for three seasons straight:
2015; 2nd National champion middle distance
2016; 1st National champion middle distance
2017; 2nd National champion middle distance
Interestingly enough, Maarten does not have a large collection of pigeons, quite the opposite: he keeps no more than 60 pigeons in winter! And he has just 6 breeding pairs in his collection, although each of them has been a national ace pigeon or NPO winner.
This national success story can be attributed to the breeding value of one top class hen in particular: NL08-1633110 Miss Universe. She is a great looking hen which Maarten was fond of from the day he saw her. Maarten tends to ask a lot from his pigeons but Miss Universe was transferred to the breeding loft right away, without hesitation. This blue coloured hen bred from Universal Man (2 x first) x granddaughter Juf (Ludo Claessens) clearly lived up to the expectations, having bred an astounding 26 first prize winners!
1st NPO Creil - 12,496 p.
1st St. Quentin - 5,288 p.
1st Pithiviers - 3,177 p.
1st St. Quentin - 1,797 p.
1st Creil - 1,679 p.
1st Orleans - 1,566 p.
1st Sens - 1,385 p.
1st St. Quentin - 1,236 p.
1st Morlincourt - 1,162 p.
1st Quievrain - 1,044 p.
1st Pommeroul - 775 p.
1st Sens - 669 p.
1st St. Quentin - 426 p.
1st Roye - 423 p.
1st St. Quentin - 322 p.
1st Creil - 275 p.
1st Sens - 256 p.
1st Morlincourt - 251 p.
1st Pommeroeul - 247 p.
1st Quievrain - 230 p.
1st Orleans - 177 p.
1st Creil - 160 p.
1st Creil - 146 p.
1st Creil - 133 p.
1st Houdeng - 124 p.
1st Fontenay - 88 p.
4th Nat. ace cock WHZB 2015
Grandchildren of Miss Universe have won:
1st fastest Morlincourt - 22,106 p.
1st-2nd-3rd prov. Strepy Th. - 10,995 p.
1st NPO Morlincourt - 9,426 p.
1st-2nd-3rd prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p.
2nd NL / 3rd Int. Olympiad Pigeon cat. G (YLs) 2017
2nd Nat. ace hen WHZB 2015
3rd Nat. pigeon sprint & middle distance PIPA Ranking
7th Nat. Olympiad Pigeon cat. yearlings 2017
8th Nat. pigeon sprint PIPA Ranking 2016
1st NPO Sens - 8,503 p. (great-grandchild)
We asked Maarten to name the eye-catchers of his pigeon family but instead of giving us two or three names he came up with a list of ten of his most successful racing birds in recent years. It gives us an idea of the level of quality in the pigeon lofts in Hoogerheide. We take you through some of the most talented Hijsmans pigeons.
NL15-1777222 Pia
This racing hen won a 1st NPO Creil in 2016, and she is a direct daughter of Miss Universe. Pia has won:
1st NPO Creil - 12,496 p. 2016
2nd s-prov. ace pigeon natour 2017 behind a loft mate
The sire of Pia is NPO Winner, a fantastic racing bird and winner of a 1st NPO Creil 24,470 p. 2014, and a 1st Sens 1,870 p. and 2nd NPO 8,503 p. He is also the sire of Super Dutch (5th Nat. Ace Pigeon Yearlings 2017 and 2x 1st), Half Brother Pia (2 first prizes) and 556/17 (11th Prov. young ace pieon 2017).
NL12-1698913 Super Cees
The best direct son of Miss Universe is probably Super Cees. He won 4 first prizes and he was one of the best racing birds in the national WHZB competition before turning into a super class breeding bird. This is Super Cees's palmares:
4th Nat. ace cock WHZB 2015
1st Quievrain - 1,044 p.
1st Quievrain - 250 p.
1st Creil - 160 p.
1st Fontenay - 88 p.
2nd Peronne - 1,034 p.
2nd Orleans - 447 p.
2nd Orleans - 345 p.
3rd Souppes - 3,265 p.
3rd Pommeroeul - 877 p.
4th Nivelles - 4,424 p.
4th Creil - 2,165 p.
6th Fontenay - 1,482 p.
7th Creil - 2,599 p.
8th Orleans - 1,147 p.
Super Cees is a great breeding bird even though he is still fairly young. His direct youngsters have won:
1st snelste Morlincourt - 22,106 p.
1st prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p.
1st Pithiviers - 1,264 p.
1st Morlincourt - 777 p.
2nd prov. Strepy Thieu - 10,995 p. behind loft mate
3rd Nat. sprint middle distance pigeon PIPA ranking
3rd prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p. behind loft mate
7th Nat Olympiad pigeon cat. yearlings 2017
8th Nat. sprint pigeon PIPA Ranking 2016
NL13-1316012 Doutzen
One of the big sensations of team Huijsmans is Doutzen, a grandchild of Miss Universe. A great racing hen that knew how to win races. Doutzen has won:
2nd Nat. ace hen WHZB 2015
8th Nat. ace pigeon middle distance 2015
1st NPO Morlincourt - 9,426 p.
1st St. Quentin - 176 p.
1st Sens - 149 p.
2nd NPO Creil - 24,470 p. (behind NPO Winner)
2nd Roye - 638 p.
2nd Sens - 439 p.
7th Creil - 2,165 p.
Doutzen has been paired to Super Cees, another sensational breeding bird. She is now the dam of:
1st fastest Morlincourt - 22,106 p.
1st prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p.
2nd prov. Strepy Thieu - 10,995 p. behind loft mate
3rd Nat. sprint middle distance PIPA ranking
3rd prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p. behind loft mate
7th Nat. Olympiad Pigeon cat. yearlings 2017
8th Nat. sprint pigeon PIPA Ranking 2016
Doutzen is a sister of the ‘013/13’, winner of a 1st Pommeroeul 136 p., a 4th Sens 2,428 p., a 6th Creil 2,631 p., a 10th NPO Creil 24,470 p., and the sire of a 6th NPO Creil 9,089 p.
NL15-1777319 Super Yearling
NL15-1777268 Blue Diamond and NL15-1777319 Super Yearling are probably the most successful brother and sister in the middle distance in recent years. These youngsters of the renowned Super Cees x Doutzen have won quite a few prizes over the years.
NL15-1777319 Super Yearling has won:
7th Nat Olympiad pigeon cat. yearlings 2017
8th Nat. sprint pigeon PIPA Ranking 2016
1st prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p.
2nd Roye - 3,652 p.
2nd Creil - 2,740 p.
2nd Morlincourt - 875 p.
Super Yearling is the sire of
1st Orleans - 920 p.
6th Sens - 2,298 p.
Super Yearling is a full brother of NL15-1777268 Blue Diamond
1st ace pigeon sprint entente Kleine West Hoek 2017
3rd Nat. sprint middle distance pigeon PIPA Ranking 2017
1st fastest Morlincourt - 22,106 p.
1st Pithiviers - 1,264 p.
1st Morlincourt - 777 p.
2nd prov. Strepy Thieu - 10,995 p. behind loft mate
3rd prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p. behind loft mates
If she had not been beaten by her own teammates, she would have been the fastest overall in three races
Blue Diamond is the dam of the ‘556/17’ in 2017:
11th prov. young ace pigeon 2017
3rd Orléans - 352 p. / 13th R1 - 1,595 p.
5th Morlincourt - 557 p. / 9th R1 - 3,260 p.
5th Creil - 649 p. / 15th R1 - 3,380 p.
A full sister of Blue Diamond and Super Yearling is racing hen 233/15. She has won a 3rd Morlincourt 3,123 p., a 3rd Gien 934 p. (6th NPO 4,119 p.), a 5th Pithiviers 1,264 p. and a 6th St. Quentin 989 p.
NL15-1777271 Olympic Roel
Now let's take a look at the outstanding Olympic Roel, a grandson of Miss universe. He is arguably one of the best yearlings in The Netherlands 2016, which explains his Olympiad nomination for Brussels 2017. This is his impressive palmares:
2nd Nat. / 3rd Int. Olympiad Pigeon cat. yearlings 2017
1st Creil - 1,160 p.
2nd prov. Sezanne - 9,118 p. behind loft mate
3rd prov. Strepy Thieu - 10,995 p. behind loft mate
4th Roye - 3,652 p.
11th prov. Creil - 9,089 p.
His brothers and half brothers have won:
1st St. Quentin - 2,704 p.
1st Sezanne - 2,613 p.
1st Orleans - 2,002 p.
1st St. Quentin - 1,509 p.
1st Quievrain - 682 p.
1st Sens - 628 p.
1st Peronne - 209 p.
1st Creil - 195 p.
Still in his early thirties and already a highly successful pigeon fancier; Maarten Huijsmans is quite a phenomeon. On top of that, he showed us the ace pigeon ranking of the natour competition in Rayon 1 of Province 2 against 3,000 pigeons on average. Believe it or not, the first four pigeons were all youngsters of the grandchildren of Miss Universe. Any fancier with such a collection of pigeons can look toward the future with confidence. We reckon he cannot wait to basket his pigeons again this seaon!