Jean-Marc Thibaut in front of the new lofts, with a few youngsters of the first round
The pigeons of Jean-Marc Thibaut (47) have been winning a spectacular number of prizes over the past 12 years, and their palmares resulted in several championship titles as well, even at national level: team Thibaut-Boons became a force to be reckoned with in the national championships KBDB. This was not an easy feat, as Jean-Marc is pretty much the only fancier in the neighbourhood (on the border of the Namur province, close to the Charleroi airport) that has been winning championship titles on a yearly basis. It shows that his pigeons are quite a remarkable breed. They showed their potential again in 2017, winning the title of 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon shorter middle distance KBDB (with Max) and the title of 5th Nat. Champion shorter middle distance olds & yearlings KBDB. On top of that, they claimed a 1st and 3rd Nat. Argenton of 21,915 p., which was the team's first ever national victory (read our previous report to know all about it). It was the only thing still missing on their palmares, which is now complete. And they cannot wait to add another national win to their list of achievements soon. 2017 has been another great season with many national championship titles and ace pigeon titles.
Such an impressive level of performance does not come out of nowhere. It takes a deliberate strategy, an experienced fancier, and obviously a high quality pigeon breed. Their breed was built around pigeons of Pros Roosen (Kermt), Gaby Vandenabeele (Dentergem), Deno Hebots (Leefdaal), Bart Geerinckx and Etienne Derauw (Lebbeke). And Jean-Marc is the the type of fancier who is always on the outlook for interesting new opportunities, and new investments.
A group of pigeons of Pros Roosen proved particularly valuable for this team: the fanciers obtained most notably the old Pros BE01-5025754, and the current stock dam is a direct Pros Roosen as well: Audrey BE10-5020438. She was an instant success in the breeding loft.
Audrey: the number one stock dam, a direct Pros Roosen
Audrey, the number one stock dam for Thibaut-Boons
We vividly remember the total auction of the late Pros Roosen from Kermt in early January 2011. Pros Roosen was a great champion with a small racing team and just 4 breeding boxes. These boxes could only be used by the truly great (for instance Superkweker Freddy, Flits, Tarzan en Blauwe Prins). One of the hens that really caught our attention, and that of Jean-Marc as well, was Audrey BE10-5020438, a granddaughter of three fantastic pigeons: Superkweker Freddy (a top breeder of De Rauw-Sablon), Flits (5 first prizes and a son of Chateauroux), Asduifke (1st Ace Pigeon Long Distance Club Limburg and a granddaughter of Superkweker Freddy). Click here for the pedigree of Audrey.
Jean-Marc had the highest and final bid, and so he was fortunate enough to be adding Audrey to his pigeon collection. She would soon develop into an outstanding breeding dam, both in combination with the old Thibaut-Boons breed and with recent introductions. She gave way to an entire new generation of prize winners, including the following champions:
Olympic Nico (son Audrey): 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance 2014 and Olympiad Pigeon Cat. A Budapest '15
-Olympic Niko BE12-8009313
1st Olympiad Pigeon Cat. A Budapest ’15 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance olds KBDB ’14 4th Nat. Ace Pigeon Kleine Halve Fond YL KBDB ’13 Co-winner 1. Nat. Champion Middle Distance KBDB ’14 1st Prov. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB ’14 3rd Ace Pigeon Europa Cup Brno
He is a direct son of Audrey, combined with the old breed. The sire is Dario BE07-8033179 (full brother of Kimi: 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon middle distance KBDB 2005, and a grandson of the old Pros BE01-5025754, a pigeon of Soontjes). Click here for the pedigree of Olympic Niko.
Olympic Niko soon showed to be an excellent breeder. He is now the sire of Niko Junior, and the grandfather of the double provincial winner from Bourges in 2016 and Nevers in 2017:
Niko Junior: 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance KHF KBDB '14
-Niko Junior BE13-8021424
9th Nat. Ace Pigeon shorter middle distance YLs KBDB ’14
He is a son of two great racing birds of Thibaut-Boons, which clearly shows that champions breed champions. His sire is Olympic Niko, paired to Granddaughter Jeanne BE12-8009410, winner of a 1st Intprov. Gien 676 p., 5th Nat. Gueret 2,429 p. ’14, 4th Intprov. La Souterraine 320 p., 9th Intprov. Orleans 570 p., and 27th Intprov. Pithiviers 1,773 p. As you might have guessed, granddaughter Jeanne is a granddaughter of top breeder Jeanne of Geenen-Peters, and her dam is a granddaughter of Gaby Vandenabeele's Wittenbuik. Click here for Niki Junior's pedigree.
-Granddaughter Niko BE16-1161054
1st Prov Bourges 1,228 p. ’16 - 46th Nat Bourges 28,078 p. ’16 1st Prov Nevers 1,522 p. ’17 – 3rd Semi-Nat Nevers 5,997 p. ’17 2nd Prov Argenton 2,009 p. ’17
This racing bird comes from Son Niko BE14-2343409, paired to Blauw Florie BE14-6049690 of Bart Van Oeckel (from the lines of Mis Poznan and 1st Nat. limoges Geerinckx).
Click here for the pedigree of Granddaughter Niko.
Besides Niko, Audrey is also the dam of another renowned racing bird of Thibaut-Boons; his name is Lauda:
Lauda: 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance KBDB 2016, a direct son of Audrey
-Lauda BE14-1123505
2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance Olds KBDB ’16 Substitute Olympiad Pigeon Cat. B Brussels ’17 1st Fay aux Loges 692 p. (op 06/6) 2nd Gien 1,024 p. (op 20/6) 2nd Gien 441 p. (op 25/7) 2nd Fay aux Loges 764 p. (op 11/7) 4th Gien 976 p. (op 27/6) 7th Lorris 1,005 p.
He is a half brother of Olympic Niko, and a direct son of stock dam Audrey, paired to Blauwe Derauw BE13-8021511 (obtained from Etienne Derauw-Lebbeke as an egg).
Click here for Lauda's pedigree.
Jean-Marc claimed his first national victory in 2017 in the young birds' race from Argenton, where he also claimed a 3rd National. And the winner of this 3rd Nat. Argenton happens to be a granddaughter of stock dam Audrey as well.
-Thiam BE17-1143267
3rd Nat. Argenton 21,915 p. ’17 (3rd fastest of more than 25,000 pigeons)
Thiam was bred from a direct Gaby Vandenabeele cock: Father Thiam BE16-3141606 (grandson Super Romeo, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Long Distance YLs KBDB ’13 and Amalia, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon longer middle distance KBDB ’11), paired to Daughter Audrey BE11-8006196 (form a son of old Pros, Lewis x Audrey). Click here for Thiam's pedigree.
And we end this overview of national ace pigeons and national champions based on the Audrey bloodline with Asduifke from 2016, which also claimed a provincial first prize:
-Asduifke 057 BE16-1161057
15th Nat. Ace Pigeon Longer Middle Distance KBDB ’16 1st Prov. Argenton 2,009 p. ’17 – 42nd Nat. Argenton 22,712 p. 2nd Intprov. Bourges 1,228 p. ’16 – 78th Nat. Bourges 28,078 p. 2nd Intprov. La Souterraine 407 p. ’16 6th Intprov. Bourges II 543 p. ’17 9th Intprov. Argenton 653 p. ’16 28th Intprov. Nevers 5,997 p.
This ace pigeon comes from a full sister of Niko BE12-8009528 (bred from Dario x Audrey), paired to a grandson of Oude Pros BE13-9020989 (inbred from grandson x daughter of stock breeder Oude Pros).
Click here for the pedigree of Ace Pigeon 057.
Max: 2nd National Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance olds KBDB 2017
We think a report about the Thibaut-Boons pigeon family would not be complete without taking a closer look at the achievements of Max, winner of a silver medal in the national ace pigeon championship shorter middle distance 2017.
Max: 2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance KBDB '17, and 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance KBDB '16
-Max BE15-1154041
2nd Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance olds KBDB ’17 9th Nat. Ace Pigeon Shorter Middle Distance YLs KBDB ’16
Click here to read more about Max (and his palmares) in a report that we published recently.
He comes from a crossing of the old breed of Thibaut-Boons paired to a cock of the PEC of Nikolaas Gyselbrecht: Father Max BE13-8021502 (line of Bak 17 Aelbrecht x Miss Joyce x Blauwe Prins Pros Roosen) paired to Chanel BE10-8016269 (daughter of Father Wonder 017, a Deno-Herbots… x Luna, top breeder and full sister of Kimi, 1st Nat. Ace Pigeon Middle Distance KBDB ’05). Chanel is a full sister of Wonder 017 (winner of 1st Nat. Zone Gueret 3,047 p.) and Lola (3rd Nat. Ace Pigeon Longer Middle Distance KBDB).
Click here for the full pedigree.
A fresh start in 2018
Jean-Marc (who runs a garden centre in Sombreffe) was hoping to move to the land of his grandparents one day, and that is going to happen soon. During our visit the basic structure of his new home was almost complete. Windows are now about to be installed, and the interior will soon be finished as well. Jean-Marc and his family are hoping to move in by mid-June.
The old birds are raced in total widowhood.
Above: the loft of the racing cocks. Below: the boxes for the racing hens
Unlike his new home, the construction of his new pigeon lofts is already complete. This is the new home of his pigeon family as of 2018. They are about 500 metres away from Jean-Marc's current home. The old and one year old birds are still getting used to their new homes, whereas the first round of youngsters has already started training here. This is a wonderful new installation, equipped with Hermes breeding boxes on a conveyor belt, and wooden floor grills, which should make this loft a lot easier to maintain. A few breeding boxes are still kept in the old loft. This is quite a big change for both the fancier and the pigeon family, and their number one challenge will be to try and match their level of performance from recent seasons in their new pigeon loft as well. If anything, both the fancier and the pigeons have all the potential and the willpower to achieve their goals. Good luck to Jean-Marc!
