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After more than 50 years of top-level pigeon sport, Maurits Dewinter achieved his first provincial victory in August 2020. Maurits was not a newcomer, as he has previously earned podium places at provincial and zonal levels. However, at Brive, he did manage to bring the provincial palm back to Meldert! They won with flair the 1st provincial Brive, a race in which only a handful of pigeons in Limburg achieved the speed of 1100m/min!
The provincial winner from Brive “Het Leeuwke” BE18‐5013611 also won 3rd prize in Zone B2 against 747 pigeons. He is a son of:
Father: BE17-6149093, bred from ‘Den Ad’ by Marcel Wouters.
Mother: BE17-2140892, a hen from the line of Gaby Vandenabeele.
After Maurits moved from Schaffen (Brabant) to Meldert in Limburg, the old pigeon strain (origin Vangastel/Vansweefelt) – which had already performed very well with, among others, 2nd provincial Barcelona (1 pigeon sent!) and top rankings in the heavy half-fond – was further supplemented with pigeons from Louis Van Loon (Poppel) and Erik Limbourg (Brussegem – line 'new Slimmen').
His son Wim has since moved to Houthalen, and due to his busy job and young family, he doesn’t always have as much time to fully engage in the pigeon sport with his father. However, he takes care of the breeding pigeons located in Houthalen and has continued to invest in pigeons from Kris Wijnants (Geel), and at Gebr. Van Thoor (Vlaardingen – NL) a full brother of 'Olympic Barbara' was purchased: 3rd Olympiad pigeon cat. F in Budapest. The breeding stock was also further supplemented with the type from Gaby Vandenabeele (‘Bliksem’ line, via M. & L. De Laere), Casselmann (D) from the bloodline of ‘Kannibaal’ of Dirk Van Dyck, and pigeons from Gert Rotman (NL) from the lines De Rauw-Sablon, Paul Huls, and the ‘Ringloze’ of Gunther Prange. Pigeons from Jos Thoné, Hooymans, and Geerinckx have also been introduced to the breeding loft. So, quality in abundance!
Play and Medical
Annually, around 80 young pigeons are ringed, of which only the best are kept for further careers. The selection among the young pigeons is already quite strict, as only a team of 20 males will thereafter play the classic widowhood. “We’ve also tried with hens, but I don’t quite like that,” says Maurits.
The pigeons are generally given a relatively high-fat mixture, and for Dewinter, it is particularly important that they continue to eat well throughout the week and that the tank is full when they are basketed. Training occurs twice a day for both old and young pigeons. Medical care and standard vaccinations are provided by Karlo Van Rompaey from Sint-Truiden.
Superbreeder “Leeuw”
At the home of Dewinter, they have been witnesses for years to the formidable breeding qualities of the “Leeuw” from Marcel Wouters. This super-crack was 1st Asduif in Union Antwerp and 8th National Asduif KBDB in 2004. He won among others Dourdan 1/530, Dourdan 1/1376, Dourdan 1/712, Toury 1/319, Toury 1/466, Orleans 2/1289 (prov 27/12961), Toury 5/975, Dourdan 6/1052… But even more spectacular is the complete list of descendants of the Leeuw with top performances! At least 6 different national, provincial, and semi-national winners have emerged from him on at least as many lofts. Or think of “Den Ad,” son of “the Leeuw”: 1st National Asduif KBDB KHF 2012 and 1st Olympiad pigeon Nitran Cat B in 2013. Wim and Maurits have also managed to secure this bloodline in their strain, resulting in well-known strong outcomes.
