René & Etienne BOURLARD

of Harveng

1st national Limoges Derby 12,212 birds.
Winner Nationaal Orange hens.

This season 2005, there is one that has flown very well - René Bourlard and his son in Harling, where the whole family works together. Their results in 2005 are astonnishing, and this in one of the most competitive seasons of the last years! One of Belgian's best lofts, their results will be rememberred through history in the pigeon sport of the french-speaking part in Belgium. The month before winning the National was exceptional, something that only champions can do. It began with Montélimar, where 11 National prizes were achieved, out of 21 pigeons! Cahors followed and it was the National winner Limoges who came out with 97th National and 7 prizes out of 15. Montauban saw a perfect result, 5 of 5 beginning with 83rd national. Then a dream came true with Orange and a 1st national hens and 21 prizes from 29 pigeons. 5 prizes in the top 100 National from 7000 pigeons. unbelievable! And it didn't stop there! The day after the National victory, there was the Marseille race. There were 12 pigeons on the day of liberation, when lot of lofts were still waiting to clock. Results like this are certainly no fluke, as you can see from how many pigeons they've had in the first 100 national in the last three years. * 22 X en 2002. * 22 X en 2003. * 29 X en 2004.

Let's introduce Reene .
René Bourlard is 65 years old. He used to be bus driver at TEC (DE LIJN) and has already been retired for 10 years. His son, who races with him, also works at TEC but at the administrative department. In 1983 the pigeon adventure started at Bourlard's actual address, but René's grandfather and uncle were also pigeon fanciers. When they decided to extend the distances, René did some interesting purchases. His interest went to Deneufbourg and Roosens pigeons. Marc, the champion of Leernes, who left us recently. He sold a brother of Sinistré , a brother of Tic-Tac and a brother of Marseille . Next to them, they purchased pigeons off Delbruyère, who possessed mostly Roosens, and off Depeter , who also housed the strain. And later he introduced Vanbruaenes that he bought at different auctions of Gyselbrecht pigeons. It is René who takes care of the pigeons and 2 basic rules are followed very strictly. We were pleasant surprised by the involvement of Etienne's children, even the granddaughter and grandson know the colony well. An especially pleasant surprise was to see how much knowledge they have about the big champions pass. The team consists of 60 old widowers, 20 yearlings, 15 hens and 24 pairs of breeders. The younger generation gets almost no training. The youngsters fly Momignies and Soissons or perhaps have nothing. In the eyes of René, it is very important to be very clean, and we see perfect hygiene in his loft. A quick look in the garden, gives us good idea who we are dealing with. René is very punctual in exercising the pigeons. He liberates them always at the same time. If this is not possible, he'd rather skip it. He has noticed pigeons don't like a variable timetable. All pigeons get the same food, composed of 25 % maize, 25 % peas, 25 % oats, 12.5 cardy and 12.5 % dari. Linseed and swede rape is added to this composition during moulting, this because they contain oil. The widowers can raise a youngster after the season and are seperated around the 15th of October. At the beginning of March they are coupled again and allowed to breed till they leave the nest. Before they become widowed, they can breed +/- 3 days. At the beginning of the season, the widowers fly twice a day with the flag to get a good ryhthm. The vets are used at the beginning of the season. The pigeons don't get anything against coccidiosis, which should not be a problem in a nice clean loft. Several cures are given against tricho and coryza with homeopathic medicines. The hens are always shown before they leave. It is especially his son who thinks this ritual is important.

Here again we found the best lines of Roosens. The father comes from Depeter and is a half brother of "Sinistré" Roosens . On this side, we also find the best lines of Marc through "Carus", "Mondial", "Mexico", "Mirador", "525", "Foreu". A great origin! The mother of the laureaat Limoges is the sister of a pigeon that flew Barcelona to Bourlard 5 times in a row. We find again on one side Roosens X Deneufbourg and on the other side the grandmother is Mimine who won Orange! The "Limoges" flew: 2003 2 x Soissons as excercise flight. 2004 Two quick fligths and a half long distance fligth and then Limoges: 1179/7894. 2005 Two quick flights and then:

Châteauroux: 16/64. Cahors: 97/9275. Limoges: 1/ 12.212.

A short summary of the fantastic results for 2005 by the Bourlards 22/05 Bourges 138 old ones: 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 34, 41, 44, 45 of 34. 28/05 Bourges 470 old ones: 5, 11, 16, 33, 34, 36, 43, 47, 60, 62, 65, 89, 107, 120, 125, 146, 149, 152 of 40. 299 yearlings: 12, 15, 32, 33, 66, 96 of 17. 04/06 Châteauroux 64 old ones1, 2, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 20 of. 04/06 Brive 230 old ones, 15, 17, 19, 22, 44, 52, 54, 56, 57, 67, 68, 77 of 32 . 11/06 Montélimar 176 old ones: 3, 9, 15, 18, 25, 29, 41, 47, 42, 53, 57 of 21. National 10195 old ones : 94, 253, 506, 606, 847, 1091, 1791, 1989, 2178, 2287, 2384. 18/06 Cahors 129 : 1, 5, 6, 7, 12, 23, 28, 34 of 15. National 9275 old ones : 97, 295, 323, 325, 541, 1174, 1317. 25/06 Montauban 102 old ones: 1, 3, 6, 7, 10 of 5. National 7303 : 83, 131, 744, 871, 1061. 02/07 Orange 164 old ones: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 16, 22, 23, 26, 27, 38, 41, 42, 43, 46, 50, 53 van 29. National 6751 old ones: 12, 41, 68, 70, 82, 104, 158, 163, 224, 483, 506, 628, 638, 899, 1032, 1040, 1062, 1098, 1195, 1214, 1357. National 444 hens: 1, 12, 15, 16, 31, 89. 02/07 Barcelona 115 hens: 1, 3, 10, 13, 17, 20, 21, 26 van 12. 09/07 Limoges 200 old ones : 1, 2, 3, 8, 29, 34, 39 of 9.

A loft full of quality!
What we saw in Harveng is amazing. The quality of the pigeons is extraordinary, but it that is not surprising when we see what their origin is. The perfect pigeon fancier, and good treatment, made for great thinngs in season 2005.We want to mention that the family Bourlard practices the pigeon sport as a hobby, and it is a real passion which René wants to share with his children and grandchildren. They are an example to many.

Information supplied by Nikolaas Gyselbrecht of www.pipa.be in conjunction with Elimar Pigeon Services