For years, a national top in sprinting and small middle-distance racing. And this with a tiny colony where quality clearly takes precedence over quantity. Pitts once again had the privilege to bring some pearls from this super loft under the auction hammer: 12 pieces from the very best of Eric Vrancken and Marleen Berden will change owners. Make sure you are among the lucky ones!
Sprint and small middle-distance
Eric and Marleen have been a top duo for years, capable of great things in the Hasselt region. It all started at Eric’s parental home, where he began racing pigeons with his brother Willy in 1975. Later, through Willy, the Soontjes pigeons would also come to Kuringen (via Pros Roosen). In 2015, pigeons were added from Rene Vervoort (Hulshout) and Toon Neven (Lummen).
At Vrancken-Berden, preference is given to sprinting and light middle-distance. Both males and females are raced, but with partners staying at home, so no total widowhood. Before the season, yearlings are taken out four times to about 25 km. For health reasons, Eric and Marleen keep their pigeon stock quite small, and no old pigeons are raced anymore.
The young pigeons are darkened from March until around May 20, from 6 PM to 8 AM. Training begins in mid-April: before the first prize race, they have thus been in the basket at least ten times, up to 25 km. Until the end of July, they are generally raced on the sliding door. After that, they are kept together and raced on a nest.
Care and supplements
At the beginning of November, a standard checkup is done at the veterinarian. Subsequently, Eric goes for a checkup about once a month from March until the end of the racing season. The mixtures from Versele-Laga are fed to both young and old. For the racing pigeons, this is a sports and molting mixture, combined with a soontjes mixture. As soon as the breeding pigeons start with young, they receive a breeding mixture, also from Versele. At regular intervals, all pigeons are given a vitamin preparation, and the racing pigeons always receive yellow drops over their feed upon returning from a flight. Grit and mineral stones are always available.
Results
-1st BEST AS PIGEON IN THE WORLD FCI SPRINT 2020
OLD-YEARLINGS AND YOUNGSTERS TOGETHER WITH RICO
-1st BEST AS PIGEON IN THE WORLD FCI SPRINT 2019
(PARTICIPATION BELGIUM) WITH WHITE MAN
-1st NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2020
-1st OLYMPIAD PIGEON (Olympic Hope) 2020 BELGIUM YOUNGSTERS
-1st OLYMPIAD PIGEON 2022 YOUNGSTERS (Romania)
-1st PRO.AS PIGEON YOUNGSTERS MIDDLE DISTANCE 2020
-2nd PRO.AS PIGEON OLD SPRINT 2019
-2nd OLYMPIAD PIGEON 2019 YOUNGSTERS (POLAND)
-3rd OLYMPIAD PIGEON 2017 YOUNGSTERS (Brussels Belgium)
-3rd NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT OLDS 2019
-4th NAT.AS PIGEON MIDDLE DISTANCE YOUNGSTERS 2020
-12th NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT YEAR PIGEONS 2018
-15th NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2021
-4th NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2022 – SISTER RICO
-21st NAT.AS PIGEON SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2022
-5th NAT.CHAMPION SPRINT 1+2 YOUNGSTERS 2022
-3rd PRO.AS PIGEON YOUNGSTERS SPRINT 2022
-1st PRO.CHAMPION SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2022
-1st GENERAL CHAMPION SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 1+2 JOINT PLAY MIDDLE LIMBURG 2022
-1st GENERAL CHAMPION SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 1+2 JOINT PLAY SML 2022
-1st superstar sprint of the month August 2020 golden pigeon
-1st superstar sprint of the month August 2022 golden pigeon
Best results 2022
- CHIMAY-ML-4132d- 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th-7th-10th-22nd-23rd-19/21
- CHIMAY-SML-1350d-1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th-7th-10th-23rd-18/21
- VERVINS-ML-3163d-1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th-9th-18th-25th-26th-30/45
- VERVINS-SML-1011d-1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th-9th-18th-25th-30/45
- CHIMAY-SML-992d-1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-6th-27th-37th-16/16
- CHIMAY-SML-822d-1st-2nd-3rd-8th-9th-10th-11th-16/38
- CHIMAY-SML-1017d-1st-3rd-8th-11th-20th-21st-22nd-23rd-24th-32/46
- DIZY-SML-1st-7th-8th-9th-10th-11th-17th-20th-22/28
- LAON-SML-543d-1st-11th-24th-43rd-45th-18/23
- DIZY-ML-3635d-3rd-18th-19th-20th-21st-22nd-22/28
- CHIMAY-SML-668d-2nd-6th-7th-9th-16th-18th-18/23
- METTET-ML-2320d-3rd-4th-7th-12th-40th-19/30
- CHIMAY-ML-3222d-3rd-7th-12th-16th-32nd-33rd-35th-33/40
- METTET-ML-3257d-2nd-3rd-56th-71st-97th-98th-15/33
- METTET-SML-724d-3rd-4th-7th-12th-35th-78th-12/30
- CHIMAY-ML-2482d-6th-7th-9th-41st-42nd-44th-45th-15/38
- CHATEAUROUX-7th national-17081d
- ML= MIDDLE LIMBURG
- SML= joint play 3 unions
2021
The 2021 season initially seemed to be in trouble when Eric almost decided to stop racing pigeons due to the collapse of the joint play they are part of in Kuringen. Spirits dropped for a moment and even the electronic clocking system was already sold. Yet he picked up the thread again, cautiously racing 9 flights with 6 young pigeons and achieved the following stunning results:
- Mettet 776 young: 1st-3rd-20th (3/6)
- Mettet 1151 young: 1st-15th-31st (3/6)
- Chimay 242 young: 1st-2nd-44th-45th (3/6)
- Dizy 722 young: 1st-175 (2/2)
- Chimay 176 young: 1st (1/2)
- Chimay 1420 young: 7th-48th-270th (3/6)
- Laon 1042 young: 10th-37th-102nd (3/6)
- Vervins 1364 young: 4th-272nd-342nd (3/6)
- Chimay 687 young: 40th-90th-91st (6/6)
As Pigeons 2019
- 3rd National as pigeon old sprint
- 1st & 4th as pigeon old sprint joint play Middle Limburg
- 5th as pigeon sprint yearlings Middle Limburg
- 1st & 2nd as pigeon late youngsters local Kermt
- 1st as pigeon late youngsters local Kermt
2020
- Laon-290d: 1st-2nd-3rd-14th... 8/10
- Dizy-783d: 1st-5th-8th-15th... 9/11
- Vervins-446d: 4th-5th-6th-7th-8th-9th-10th-11th... 21/28
- Laon-354d: 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-9th-10th-11th-12th-14th... 24/28
- Laon-987d: 1st-2nd-4th-5th-10th... 15/34
- Laon-793d: 1st-2nd-3rd... 7/10
- Vervins-5077d: 9th-9th-12th-15th-23rd-25th-28th-31st... 16/28
- Dizy-4982d: 8th-9th-25th-28th-32nd... 25/28
- Chimay-3654d: 3rd-4th-19th-20th-32nd-36th... 19/31
- Vervins-1730d: 7th-8th-9th-11th-16th-18th-20th-22th... 16/28
- Laon-2924d: 1st-2nd-4th-6th-11th-43rd... 16/34
- Laon-1302d: 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-10th-11th-12th-13th-15th... 23/28
- Laon-4451d: 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th-10th-11th-12th-13th-15th... 24/28
- Sens- prov -yearlings: 2/671d (2/2)
- Sens -prov -old: 3rd/1171d (2/2)
- Sourdun- prov -yearlings: 2/974d (2/2)
- Sourdun- prov -old: 3/1736d (2/2)
- Sourdun-yearlings: 5th-7th-10th.../601d (5/6)
- Sourdun-2142 yearlings: 12th-14th-25th... (5/6)
- Sourdun-4284 old: 20th-22nd-39th... (5/6)
As Pigeons 2020
- 1st National As Pigeon Sprint youngsters
- 1st Provincial As Pigeon Middle distance youngsters
- 4th Nat as pigeon small middle distance youngsters
- 1st & 3rd as pigeon sprint youngsters joint play Middle Limburg
- 1st as pigeon middle distance youngsters joint play Middle Limburg
- 2nd as pigeon yearlings middle distance joint play Middle Limburg
- 3rd as pigeon yearlings Limburg fond club
- 1st OLYMPIC HOPE YOUNG PIGEONS CAT.f BELGIUM 2020
GOLDEN PIGEON 2020 SUPERSTARS OF THE MONTH
- 1st sprint month August
- 13th sprint month July
- 8th middle distance June
“White Man” 6214606-2017
- chimay-1st-106 d chimay-2nd-1791 d
- chimay-1st-413 d soissons-2nd-4153 d
- laon-1st-99 d dizy-2nd-765 d
- dizy-1st-132 d soissons-2nd-1237 d
- dizy-1st-689 d chimay-6th-4450 d
- soissons-1st-259 d soissons-6th-2229 d
- chimay-1st-129 d chimay-6th-805 d
- soissons-1st-893 d dizy-3rd-2682 d
- laon-3rd-78 d chimay-9th-1509 d
- laon-4th-338 d chimay-14th-2629 d
- laon-4th-160 d chimay-5th-1319 d
- laon-6th-433 d chimay-5th-1557 d
- laon-7th-416 d dizy-19th-4234 d
- chimay-4th-397 d laon-6th-1488 d
- chimay-5th-586 d laon-13th-1687 d
- chimay-5th-335 d laon-24th-2973 d
- chimay-4th-317 d chimay-18th-1431 d
- chimay-6th-281 d dizy-2nd-257 d
- chimay-3rd-81 d soissons-2nd-163 d
- soissons-4th-565 d chimay-60th-1680 d
- chimay-15th-373 d chimay-25th-803 d
‘White Man’ was
- In 2018- 12th national as pigeon sprint young pigeons
- In 2019 -3rd national as pigeon sprint old.
- 2nd provincial as pigeon sprint old-2019
- 1st as pigeon old sprint joint play middle Limburg-2019
- 1st as pigeon old sprint local Kermt- 2019
- 1st as pigeon World best pigeon 2019 sprint
Father of first nat.As Pigeon sprint youngsters 2020 (“Rico”)
“Super Marie” 5043319-2021
- 15th NAT. AS PIGEON SPRINT YOUNGSTERS 2021
- METTET-1st-776 d
- CHIMAY-2nd-242 d
- VERVINS-4th-1364 d
- CHIMAY-7th-1420 d
- METTET-15th-1151 d
- LAON-17th-974 d
- Chimay-44th-1375 d
- Vervins-69th-644 d
- Chimay-91st-687 d
- Dizy-175th-722 d
“Rico” 5031856-2020
- 1st nat.as pigeon sprint young-2020
- 1st OLYMPIAD HOPE CAT.f YOUNG PIGEONS OF BELGIUM 2020
- 1st World best pigeon sprint 2020 BELGIUM
- 1st WORLD BEST PIGEON SPRINT 2020 (OLDS, YEARLINGS & YOUNGSTERS)
- Laon: 1/987 d – Joint Play Middle: 1/2924 d
- Laon: 2/1302 d – SM: 2/4451 d
- Chimay: 3/1095 d – SM: 3/3654 d
- Dizy: 4/441 d – SM: 8/4982 d
- Vervins: 9/1730 d – SM: 12/5077 d
- Chimay: 3/239 d – SM: 87/3339 d
- Laon: 1/274 d
- Chimay: 27/445 d
- Chimay: 37/784 d
Other stars of loft Vrancken-Berden
“Blauwe 06” 5043306-21
- Mettet-1st-1151 d
- Laon-10th-1042 d
- Chimay-3rd-387 d-(loc-1st-176 d)
- Chimay-48th-1420 d
- Dizy-58th-1386 d
- Chimay-40th-687 d
- Chimay-44th-242 d
- Chimay-183rd-1375 d
- Laon-190th-974 d
- Vervins-272nd-1364 d
- Nanteuil-127th-687 d
- Melun-53rd-297 d
- Blauwe 06 flew 12 prizes in 14 flights
“The Olympiadke” 2237789/2016
- 3rd Olympiad pigeon cat.f Belgium
- 15 x first prize
- Chimay-1/1624 d
- Vervins-1/1553 d
- Vervins-1/926 d
- Chimay-1/751 d
- Chimay-1/712 d
- Chimay-1/571 d
- Chimay-1/504 d
- Chimay-1/458 d
- Vervins-1/321 d
- Chimay-1/302 d
- Chimay-1/274 d
- Vervins-1/126 d
- Chimay-1/136 d
- Chimay-1/203 d
- Chimay-1/98 d
- Chimay-2/2834 d
- Chimay-4/5530 d
- Vervins-2/5345 d
“Mormelke Marie” 6023328/2020
- 1st provincial as pigeon middle distance young Limburg
- 4th national as pigeon small middle distance youngsters 2020
- Melun: 1/405d – Joint Play Middle: 13/2785d – prov: 31/8101d
- Sens: 2/300d – SM: 9/1961d – prov: 24/6047d
- Fay aux Loges: 4/255d – SM: 8/2126d – prov: 33/6470d
- Sézanne: 8/328d – SM: 48/3589d – prov: 141/9598d
Mother of Mormelke Marie is the sister of “White man”.
“Olympic Wout” 5081113/2018
- 2nd Olympiad pigeon youngsters 2019 Poland
- 8 x first prize
- Chimay: 1/2939 d
- Laon: 1/2928 d
- Chimay: 1/1067 d
- Laon: 1/845 d
- Laon: 1/288 d
- Chimay: 1/907 d
- Chimay: 1/344 d
- Chimay: 1/319 d
- Chimay: 6/4098 d