Serge Dhondt is once again one of the leading pigeon lofts in 2013 with a long list of victories and top prizes. This loft owes its success to a top class collection and a dedicated fancier with an eye for talent who knows how to share his enthusiasm with his pigeons. Serge is an ambitious man and a hard worker as well. He wants his pigeons to be in excellent form for the important national classics. He has two important principles:
- he breeds from proven pigeons of top quality,
- he tries to get the most from a pigeon with a proper diet and good caretaking
Serge creates his own feed product
If you plan to become a top class fancier and stay at the top for a while you cannot afford to rest on your laurels. This is something Serge Dhondt has never forgotten. He used to work as the main supplier for Matador, which gave him the opportunity to see the latest developments in guidance and pigeon feed for a few years. He could then test these new concepts in his own lofts and make adjustments where necessary.
Serge figured out he could do better: he made changes to the composition of the existing mixtures, trying to come up with a mixture that meets the demands of the modern-day racing pigeon for any time of the year: the moulting period, the breeding period, the recovery period and the racing season. He tried to find the right balance between carbohydrates, proteins and fats, depending on performance.
This gave him the idea to create his own feed brand, called Dhoca quality feed. He wanted to offer higher quality at a lower price. His mixtures have been carefully tested in his own loft and in other lofts in the region and fanciers had to report their experiences. Their opponents could see the results in the races. Click here for an overview of the best results of 2013.
Drive, vision and top quality pigeons
Serge leaves nothing to chance and he continues to look for improvements to try and get the most from a racing pigeon. A balanced diet is an important factor, as well as a good environment and a dedicated fancier who knows how to coach a team. His pigeons have to be in great shape at the right moment; they should be full of energy on the day of basketing.
Serge Dhondt is not afraid to invest in world class pigeons either. He uses top quality pigeons in his breeding loft and he really puts the descendants to the test. This is how he tries to create a pigeon breed that can perform at a top level in our sport. It sounds easier than it is; only a select number of fanciers know how to achieve this. Serge Dhondt is one of them: he has managed to become one of the country’s leading lofts in the longer middle distance and the long distance. He uses his hens on widowhood for the longer middle distance and his cocks on widowhood for the long distance. Sometimes he baskets his strongest hens for a long distance race as well.
It is worth noting that most of Serge’s best pigeons originate from two superior bloodlines. We would like to take a closer look at these bloodlines, starting with Blue Princess, a truly outstanding pigeon in this loft:
-Blue Princess BE09-4079172
1st Ace Pigeon Extreme Middle Distance 2010 Long Distance Club Eeklo 1st Ace Pigeon Extreme Middle Distance 2011 Long Distance Club Eeklo 2nd Ace Pigeon cat. B in FCI Continental Cup Budapest. 3rd National Argenton 7,358 p. 18th National Chateauroux 20,139 p. etc.
Click here for the achievements of Blue Princess as a racer and breeder
Click here for the pedigree of Blue Princess
This pigeon is a true princess in the loft. She was a young bird from the fourth round and she only did a number of training flights in her first year. That did not prevent her from having two impressive seasons as a yearling and as a two year old. She was naturally gifted and she has won a great number of important prizes and titles. She was moved to the breeding loft in 2012, where she bred a powerful first prize winner both in 2012 and 2013. As we said before, top class pigeons are bred from top class pigeons. It appears that great racing hens are generally great breeders as well, more so than racing cocks. Blue Princess is a perfect example.
Serge was looking for good bloodlines to breed with when he noticed that many of the pigeons of the great champion Etienne Meirlaen were related to the grandfather of his own Blue Princess, the Broer Goldfinger of Emiel Denys. This was no coincidence, because he is also the grandfather of the renowned breeding and racing pigeon De Marseille and his talented brothers, which also belong to Meirlaen’s collection. That explains why Serge has set his mind on this bloodline. Today, approximately one half of his breeding team originates from the very best Etienne Meirlaen pigeons.
-Celientje BE12-4215879
2nd Prov. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance Young Birds KBDB 2012 7th Nat. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance Young Birds KBDB 2012
The achievements of Celientje
The pedigree van Celientje shows that she is closely related to top class hen Blue Princess. Her grandfather from her mother’s side is Voodoo BE03-4414473. This Voodoo is the nest brother of Elictric BE03-4414474, which is in turn a grandfather of Blue Princess.
Blue Princess and Celientje are just two examples that illustrate the quality of the Blue Princess bloodline. One of Blue Princess’ half brothers was one of the best one year old cocks in 2013 with a great result in the two long distance races that he was basketed for this season: the hard race from Souillac and the race from Tulle:
-Halfbrother Princess BE12-216055
Souillac 219 p. 3
Prov 916 p. 8
Zone 1,588 p. 26
Nat 3,641 p. 32
Tulle 230 p. 3
Prov 1,571 p. 23
Zone 2,209 p. 31
Nat 6,972 p. 133
Click here for the full list of achievements of Halfbrother Blue Princess.
These are three phenomenal pigeons bred from a single bloodline. This sounds promising for the future!
Vaillant, a great addition to the collection
Serge was able to obtain the amazing hen Vaillant BE09-4103977 in the total internet auction of the young fancier Jens Loobuyck from Bellem. This pigeon has a great appearance and she proved to be a great breeder as well: Dieumerci, Dieudonné and Meteoriet are three excellent sons and their half sister Bounty Girl is quite a strong pigeon as well. These are very talented racing pigeon that have what it takes to win top prizes. Just take a look at their impressive list of achievements:
-Dieumerci BE12-3127003
Poitiers Nat. 13,135 p. 21
Zone 3,342 p. 7
Prov. 2,621 p. 18
Reg. 284 p. 3
Blois Prov. 3,317 p. 11
Reg. 333 p. 2
Fontenay Prov. 2,903 p. 43
Clermont Reg. 112 p. 2
Fontenay Prov. 6,728 p. 142
Reg. 515 p. 16
Chateauroux Prov. 3,469 p. 101
Reg. 342 p. 8
Angerville Reg. 536 p. 22
Tours Reg. 161 p. 12
-Dieudonné BE12-3127103
Tulle Zone 2,203 p. 9
Nat. 6,972 p. 59
Prov. 809 p. 4
Reg. 255 p. 2
Poitiers Nat. 13,135 p. 183
Zone 3,342 p. 63
Prov. 2,621 p. 97
Reg. 284 p. 11
Fontenay Prov. 2,903 p. 41
Argenton Prov. 3,024 p. 87
Reg. 295 p. 8
Fontenay Prov. 6,728 p. 239
Reg. 515 p. 33
-Meteoriet BE13-4279511
Gueret Nat. 11,894 p. 68
Zone 3,274 p. 32
Prov. 2,162 p. 11
Reg. 146 p. 1
Nevers Zone 2,203 p. 184
Prov. 1,575 p. 54
Reg. 164 p. 6
Issoudun Prov. 2,664 p. 292
Reg. 286 p. 38
Chateauroux Prov. 3,274 p. 545
Fontenay Reg. 166 p. 28
-Bounty Girl BE11-4083845
Bourges Reg. 718 p. 2
Prov. 3,492 p. 12
Zone 3,489 p. 12
Nat 19,655 p. 144
Clermont 172 p. 3
Blois Reg. 244 p. 5
Prov. 1,085 p. 16
Clermont 168 p. 6
Brive Reg. 356 p. 6
Prov. 1,637 p. 27
Zone 3,279 p. 73
Nat 8,331 p. 93
Montrichard Reg. 70 p. 6
Prov 306 p. 20
Chateauroux Reg. 159 p. 7
Zone 735 p. 18
La Souterraine 335 p. 8
Prov 1,594 p. 37
Nat 9,548 p. 161
Poitiers Reg. 721 p. 11
Prov 3,387 p. 39
Nat 13,813 p. 113
Clermont 121 p. 11
Clermont 573 p. 17
Ablis 593 p. 22
Bourges Reg. 387 p. 24
Montluçon Reg. 743 p. 29
Prov 5,335 p. 302
Zone 7,828 p. 444
Vierzon Prov 761 p. 32
Bourges Reg. 554 p. 60
Nat 16,859 p. 862
It is no surprise that Serge Dhondt will continue to focus on these two successful bloodlines in his breeding loft. Both Blue Princess and Vaillant have showed the ability to breed superior racing pigeons. The aim is to breed with a number of top quality pigeons to try and embed their qualities in his pigeon breed. He pairs his pigeons to great pigeons from other lofts, either by purchasing them or by exchanging them. We can say that the fanciers from Deinze have been very successful with pigeons of Etienne Meirlaen, John Meurysse, Paul Santens, Astere Vergotte and Dirk & Cyriel Martens (the line of Voodoo and VC Carteus) and many more.
A promising 2014
Serge already has new plans for 2014, especially for his racing pigeons. He will discuss these plans in the near future. We saw during our visit that he was building a new loft from which his young birds will be raced. His main goal is to excel in the national races with the young birds, particularly with his young hens.
Most fanciers from around the region know that Serge Dhondt never loses sight of his goals. He leaves nothing to chance and he will do anything to achieve his objectives. His achievements of 2012 and 2013 clearly show that he knows a lot about keeping pigeons. A fancier who can win provincial and national top prizes can be regarded as one of the national stars. He is quite a champion!