Henri was a quiet man who loved nature, and everything that had to do with pigeons had to do with nature. Because of that, he was an enemy of winter breeding and also of the widowhood system. All these tricky things made him angry. With an endless amount of love and care, Henri used his eyes and his knowledge, and with the help of the majority of his family he built his own family of birds.

All the children had to take part and share in their father's hobby. For instance, the cleaning of the lofts was done by the girls as well as the boys. Henri died in 1947. His wife Pauline was the head of the family until she passed away in 1967. She was known for her kindness and all the children loved her very much.

Henri, as I mentioned earlier, was only interested in racing the natural system, and in spite of the fact that the sons built a widowhood section, it was never used as long as he was alive. Henri was very much afraid that the use of the widowhood system would, after a few years, hurt the quality of his pigeon family due to the fact that he would not be able to test the race quality of the hens. You see many of his best birds were hens. After Henri's death, the sons decided to continue the life's work of their father. In the meantime, some of the children were married. Those that remained divided the work amongst themselves. Adriaan took care of the nestbirds and the youngbirds, Louis took care of the breeders, Jef did the shipping, the cleaning of the nestbowls, the opening of the clocks, and the care of the dog. Mother Pauline and Irma did the household chores and took care of all the visitors.

It was finally decided that Charel would take care of the widowers. Yes, you read well. After the death of their father the sons started very carefully trying the widowhood system. At first with only four cocks! These were the "Oude Donkere", the "Oude Lichte", the "Rode", and the "Lichte Vos". They had not forgotten the wise words of their father; they made sure that the natural system, as well as the breeding, was still first in line.

The House at Schoolstraat 6 in Arendonk

People that visit the Janssen house for the first time may be a little surprised at what they find. They may expect, as with most superstars in every kind of sport, a large imposing home. In this case, what you find is a very humble home that was built before the Second World War. As is the custom in Arendonk, the entrance to the Janssen home is a small door around the back.

The Janssen Brothers are down-to-earth, honest men that remained faithful to the fashion in which they had been brought up. These were people who worked hard in the cigar-factory until they could retire on a pension. Inside their home, everything is honest and down-to-earth; the pictures of their parents and of their brothers and sisters are all in their own places. They have a little dog that barks very loudly at every stranger who enters their home. This is not the average residence of famous men, but rather the residence of very good and unpretentious people.

In the backyard you immediately notice a well and a pear tree. From this well is drawn the natural water to fill the drinkers of the famous pigeons. Their hospitality to visitors is well-known, as is also their appreciation of punctuality. Anyone that visits must be punctual, as well as respectful of their schedule; this would not change even for the King of Belgium.

The Lofts

Their lofts are as unassuming as their own home-small but efficient! Everything has a use. No expensive or unwarranted materials. They are still the same as they were years ago-that is except for a very expensive alarm and security system. Charel mentioned that it was a shame that they had to use it nowadays.

There are four sections built on the attic. The youngbird section and the nestbird section are below, and above are the two sections for the widowers. As soon as you enter the lofts, you notice how quiet it is. All the landing boards are on the southwest. There are also two lofts in the backyard. One of them is called "De Ren"; this is where the older birds are breeding. The other one is built with an aviary for the widowhood hens. Notice that all the race sections are situated directly under the tiles that cover the roof of the house. Several tiles made of glass take care of providing the light inside the sections. Because of the fact that between the shelves from which the sections are built and separated there is still a lot of room; you can say that the pigeons can take advantage of all the air that is inside the whole attic. So fresh air is always there. Many times the brothers have to remove the snow out of the sections. There's no need to close or open the ceiling in order to get more or less air for the pigeons.

"Those sections stay the same as they are, day or night, winter or summer," the brothers tell us. The most important thing is to keep the sections as clean as possible. If that's done seriously it's no problem to keep the birds healthy. Every time you enter the lofts they are as clean as can be. No matter how many people visit in a day, they always clean once again before someone else is allowed into the lofts. The floors always look as if you could eat from them. Once per week they use the vacuum cleaner so that there's no dust in the lofts, and besides that, they regularly take broom and brush to disinfect the lofts. Once every year they have the big cleaning and they brush everything with water and chloride. After that, all the walls are painted white again.

The Stockbirds of the Janssen Brothers

When we are sitting comfortably together having a drink, the Janssen Brothers start talking a bit more. Sitting in their well-known easy chairs they tell us about their family of birds:

The "Oude Vos"

In the year 1919, Fons got himself a blue cock from a man called Ceulemans from Berlaar. This man was already an old man at that time. The youngbirds out of that cock were doing very well. Louis, at that time a very young little fancier, got the "Oude Vos" for himself when the pigeon was three times as old as he was-the bird was already 19 years old. Louis made himself a nestbox that he placed on top of the toilet situated in the backyard. The "Oude Vos" was very happy in that box and Louis saw that a suitable young hen called "Jong Voske" was made available to him. This young hen was very much in love with his cock. The young hen had won the second prize the day before in the race and Louis tried to make her get into the nestbox on top of the toilet. After some time he succeeded and was already dreaming of the pair making love to each other in his own "loft". But when he looked a few hours later, he saw that the old cock didn't like the hen at all and he had pecked her head so that it was all covered with blood. You can understand how this gave him big problems with the rest of the family.

Around that time, Fons Janssen became friends with Mister Schoeters from Herenthout, and later got himself the so-called "Oude Duifke van '25".

The "Tamme"

In 1920, both Adriaan and Charel were also very enthusiastic fanciers. They both had a small section for themselves; one that had been a former chickenloft, Charles told me. Our Jaan had his "Tamme" that was sitting always on the hedge. Jaan only had to put his hand on the hedge and "De Tamme" immediately sat on it.

The "Lichte"

After sitting together, they all agreed to put the "Tamme" together with the "Schoon Voske" from Charel. He bred from this pair two beautiful light chequers with pearl eyes. The oldest brother, Frans, liked these youngbirds very much and was willing to pay five Belgium francs for them (approx 25 cents). Brother Fons saw the disappointment in Charel's eyes and offered him 30 francs. Fons took them both to his home in Baarle-Hertog and was very successful with these birds. One of the two was lost in a race, but the other one became a real superbird. This cock won nine times first prize. At first, all the members of the Janssen family thought that Fons was saying this just to please Charel, but when Fons brought the race-results as a proof, they all were convinced and could not believe what they were seeing. Charel was as proud as anyone could be! Fons had his heart in the right place and gave the bird back to his brothers. Later, when broken to the loft, the brothers raced him.

One day the "Lichte" was shipped again, as Adriaan believed him to be in super shape. That Sunday, the race was delayed because of bad weather. On Monday, they let the birds go and Fons decided to come and watch the birds together with his brothers because there was a strong headwind, and according to him this was the best weather for the "Lichte". The pigeons flew, according to Fons, longer than you might expect. After he saw his brothers clock a few other birds, he shouted, "None of mine home yet!" His brothers started laughing and said: "My dear Fons, you know nothing about pigeons, because you were late yourself and the bird was already clocked before you arrived." The "Lichte" that day won first prize, ten minutes ahead.

The next winter, the neighbours built a new wall. All of a sudden, a big shelf fell down and mother Pauline saw a bird that was scared and raced away. In the evening, the whole family was in a state of panic! The "Lichte" was gone. He was still sitting on the nest at 16.00 hours, Charel said. Mother Pauline told them what she had seen. Two years later, the "Lichte" came back without his band. He probably strayed in another loft and was kept as a breeder.

Also the "Blinde" of brother Frans, a full sister of the "Lichte", achieved top results. Charel at that time raced together for two years with his older brother. However, since Frans gave all the good ones away, Charel quit as he wanted to seriously build a strong family of birds. The brothers told me that Frans kept on racing by himself and had extremely good results.

The "Schalieblauw" x "Blauw Duif"

As has already been mentioned, Fons became very good friends with the brewer, Schoeters, from Berlaar, and he went together with his brother, Adriaan, to Herenthout. When they arrived, they also met Mr. Goossens, a friend of Mr. Schoeters. "What have you sitting there?" Adriaan asked, and pointed to a rabbit hutch. In it was sitting a very neglected pigeon with a lot of old feathers and a dirty tail. The brothers examined the bird carefully and discovered that it was the previous year's late-bred, still having three old primaries. They asked if they could buy the bird, but Schoeters said that this bird wasn't even worth keeping. Nevertheless, they bought the bird and Fons and Adriaan returned home satisfied. After moulting, he looked very different and was nicely built too; the "Schalieblauw" looked as if reborn. At an auction of Schoeters, Fons bought a few pigeons-amongst others, a blue hen with red around the eyes. She had raced very well and had won, amongst others, a first Noyon and a first Orleans. "As a youngbird, she was raced too many times," Louis remembers. This blue hen was mated with the "Schalieblauw". It was an extremely good pair. Birds bred from this pair were mostly light chequers with pearl eyes, as the "Oude Grote" and the "Jonge Witoger". The brothers said that these birds had beautiful bodies, silky feather, and a very tough character.

"Jonge Witoger" x "Dochter van De Aap"

Later, Fons got himself a daughter from the famous "Aap" of Schoeters. She was mated to the "Jonge Witoger". The first two youngsters from this pair didn't show much potential for the future. One got lost from the roof and the other one was lost in training. But the youngbirds from the later rounds were all very good. They were all beautiful bodied chequers with beautiful pearl eyes. Their racing and breeding qualities, more importantly, were the deciding factors. The Janssen pigeons nowadays are still descendants of these pigeons. They were crossed with the "Vossen", those from "Oude Vos" from Louis and off "Vos van '26", which was still direct from Ceulemans.

"Wonder Voske van '45"

One of the most famous stockbirds, this hen was well-known because of her winning numerous first prizes. She was almost unbeatable. She was a daughter of "Vos van '39" and a daughter off the pair "Schalieblauw" x "Blauw Duif"

"Bange van '51"

This crack is the offspring of the well-known "Vossenline". His father was "Vos van '49". The name "Bange" is not because he was shy, but because of the fact that when he got home from a race, he stayed for a couple of minutes on the landing board in order to have a nice view of the neighbourhood.

The "Bange van '51" is the keybird from which the pigeons descend that became famous in the later years. These pigeons were "De Scherpen", the "Oude Merckx", the "019", "Jonge Merckx", and the "Geeloger".

The "Halve Fabry"

One day, Louis relates how Mr. Viktor Fabry came to their home to purchase a cock. The bird was called "De Trage", a son of "De Witoger". Fabry wanted to mate "De Trage" to a daughter off his famous "Portois". He promised us a youngbird from this pair. A little more than a year later we found a box in the kitchen with a little youngster in it. After some time, the brothers remembered the promise Mr. Fabry had made to send a youngbird from the crossed pair. It was a normal rather than an outstanding kind of youngbird, and after a few training tosses the brothers decided to send it to Quievrain (100 km). The weather was not good and when all the birds were home the "Halve Fabry" was still missing. After a few hours, the brothers found him in the backyard with a full crop of grains that had been gathered by him in the field. "De Halve Fabry" won as youngbird, but nothing really special; still, in this his year of birth he changed enough so that the brothers decided to keep him. He had all the qualities to become a good bird. In his second year, he won three prizes in a row, the best one was a fifth. After that he missed and the brothers decided to keep him at home for one week. On Wednesday, he had a training toss and was shipped (driving his hen) to the race. He won first prize. Before he was used as a breeder, he was to win four firsts. As a breeder he was even better. His offspring were crossed into the Janssens.

Louis and Charel were very modest, indicating that they had a lot of luck. Yes, we agree that the good ones are rare. However, I think the Janssen Brothers also created their own luck. They were never satisfied with anything less than the best and they sought to achieve this in all that they did. The Mating

Before we go to this very important part of pigeon game, we asked the brothers what qualities they consider as important for a good pigeon to have. They say that the important things are:

. The balance of a bird

. A strong back

. Silky feathers

. Strong vents

. A strong eye

. A short backwing

. The primaries not too wide

. The last three primaries, if possible, the same length

. A small tail

. Extra important are the vitality and courage of the bird

Our next question was how have you increased the odds of breeding these types of birds? Louis and Charles tell us:

"At first comes good performances and pedigree. We like to do some inbreeding-nephew to niece seems the best mating. That's how we got the best results. The following things we tried never to do: Never mate two big birds together, otherwise you get chickens. Never mate small pigeons together, or pigeons both of whom have deep keels. Also, never mate pigeons together with so called white eyes. As far as we are concerned, the vitality and the colour must stay in the eyes, especially with pearl-eyed pigeons, one must provide to breed the colour out of the eyes."

The matings in Arendonk are agreed to by the brothers after long conversations. The long winter nights are super for this kind of pigeon talk. The cocks usually keep their own nestboxes. If a hen is racing very well, she also keeps her own nestbox. As soon as a cock, after feeding youngsters, starts showing new interest in his hen, they put an extra nestbowl in the box. The material provided to build a nest is tabacco. After mating for the first time they let the pairs out one by one, and in the evening they are all locked up in their nest boxes to insure that there are no fights. After two days the pairs can go in and out as long as they want (open loft).

During the first days, the brothers spend a lot of time being in the lofts in order to be present when something goes wrong. As soon as the eggs are laid, the brothers are already curious to know what the colour of the youngbirds later on will be. The colour of the feathers at the Janssen lofts shows a lot of variety. You see dark and light chequers, blues, reds, schally's, and pigeons with one or more white primaries. To my question if white feathers were a sign of strength the brothers start laughing, "You must know better, good ones and bad ones come in all colours. It's just a matter of taste for us."

As far as the "Vossen" are concerned, they have to be red. Though they don't like silvers, they readily admit that there are very good ones amongst them as well!

The time they mate their birds is:

. January 8th - 8 breeding pairs

. January 22nd - 13 nest pairs

. February 12th - 14 widowhood pairs

Altogether the brothers have 35 pairs of oldbirds. The pairs stay almost nine months together; during the season they never change the pairs. End of October, they separate the birds.

The Feeding

The feeding of the birds is by far the most important part. Most of the fanciers give their birds too much food. It is extremely important to feed the birds in a way that they always have their ideal weight. Their feeding-schedule for the short- and middle-distance races is as follows: On Monday and Tuesday, very light grains; after that, bit by bit, some more energy in the food; and on Saturday morning only small seeds. Charel gives an extra tip by telling that you must be sure birds, when shipped, do not have too much food, otherwise they get thirsty in the basket. The Janssen Brothers mix their own food; all kinds of grains stay separated in bags in the attic, and daily they turn it by mixing it with a stick. The feeding time is adapted to the season. According to the Janssens, it's not important if you feed them at daylight or with electric light, but for them, they stay with nature as long as they can. Important, however, is that the birds get fed always at the same time of the day.

The birds get in the winter: 31% corn, 38% barley, 15% wheat, and 15% beans. In the summer: 30% corn, 25% English peas, 27% wheat, 13% barley, and 5% beans.

Special Things

The well is, as you have read, the secret weapon for the pigeons. The pigeons always get this water, and one time a week also as bathing water. In the bathwater is always a big spoon of salt. At first they gave Aviol in the drinking water, but later on they stopped that. The whole year long, the pigeons get on Sunday honey in the drinking water. Once a week they give carrots cut in very little pieces; other vegetables they never give. In all the sections the pigeons can eat Vitamineral as much as they want, also grit with a spoon of salt mixed in. Pickstone they also give, but never on the day of shipping because otherwise the birds would get thirsty in the basket.

The Nestbirds

They are let out for loft flying three times a day: At 7.30 in the morning, 12.00, and 17.00 hours. This is done in order to give both the hens and cocks an opportunity to loft fly. In the past, they let the birds out all day, but now it's too dangerous because of the poison on the fields. In the morning when they are called in, they get a little bit of small seed. At lunchtime they get a little bit of flying mixture, and in the evening they get as much as they want until a few birds go to the drinker. The nestbirds get fed in their own nestboxes. This is because some of the pigeons get fat very quickly and this way you can control this tendency. When the birds just have youngbirds in the nest they get more barley in their mixture. After a few days this is changed into wheat. In the spring they wean the youngbirds at four weeks of age, in the summer already after three weeks. The breeding pigeons are sitting in the darker half of the nestbox. This makes them more quiet and protects them against cold and draft. They take particular care to watch the health of the nestbirds and also the vitality.

The hens are shipped the most. As long as the cock isn't chasing too much, they are shipped. The best nest position of a cock is, according to them, when he's chasing the hen. For the hens the best position is a youngster of eight to ten days. All the nestbirds raise only one youngster while racing. Very important is that the pigeons that raise youngsters keep looking very healthy. The feathers must look silky and feel like that. Special signs that nestbirds are in excellent conditions are:

. When they rarely leave the nest

. When they defend the nestbox when the fancier gets near to it

. When at feeding time they only take a few grains very quickly and then hurry back to the nest

. When pigeons show behaviours that they never do normally

At our question as to whether a nestcock later on can be a good widower, they answer in the affirmative. They often see that yearlings that are raced on the nest the first year are the next year often their best widowers. A nestbird can even be used as a widower after three or four years. They still don't like to talk about making birds excited or do tricks with them. One of the nicest stories we've ever heard is that on the day of shipping a hen was lying dead on the floor. The brothers saw it and decided to lay her in her own nestbox in front of the cock. After that he was shipped and won first prize that race. "You had to see him arrive," Louis said.

The next question was if it's possible to race the nestbirds very often. Louis says that at first the birds have to be very healthy and recuperate very quickly. Their nestbirds are mostly shipped about fifteen times a year. As an example, he mentions "Oude Blauwke", that was shipped five times within fourteen days and won five top prizes. This isn't an exception but rather a rule, because when a nestbird is in excellent condition it stays for at least fourteen days. But the fancier has to make sure that the birds do not get overweight and are not forced to do things they can't do. The eyes of the fancier are very important in such cases.

Tips: During very warm periods it's not wise to race hens that have youngbirds younger than six days. The longer the hens are in the baskets the less chance you have to win a good prize. The results of hens are better when they are liberated early in the morning. Hens feel that they don't have to sit on the nest later in the day. Hens that go to the fields when they feed youngsters are locked up in their nestboxes. This is also to prevent them from taking other birds to the fields. Nestbirds can also make excellent widowhood cocks. The yearlings are very sharp on their nest. On the second and third nest you have to try to make them more motivated by giving them special care.

The Widowhood Cocks

These are let out twice a day (at 7.00 and at 18.00 hours). In the morning they always get a little bit of small seeds. In the evening they get the race-mixture. In the beginning of the week they get 25% more barley than at the end of the week. The cocks get their food in the boxes. The widowers are let out first in the morning and are locked out for half an hour. No flag or any other thing is used to force them to fly. You shouldn't frighten a bird, they say. A bird has to fly by itself. If that isn't the case, it isn't healthy. If they can't land on their own loft because of the flag, they start landing elsewhere, and that's a bad habit. The widowers all raise one youngster in the spring, and after ten days of breeding on the second round, they go on widowhood. All the hens are taken away the same time, also when they're only breeding for a few days. The loft sections are situated directly above the nestbird and youngbird sections. On my question if this isn't a disadvantage, they don't answer. This is like it always was, so it doesn't matter.

During the cleaning of the sections and when there are visitors, they don't worry about disturbing the widowers. They're used to that, so it's not a problem. Charel says it's a fairy tale that you're not allowed to disturb the widowers. He goes to the widowhood sections three times a day and spends just as much time there as with the other birds. "Also when I walk to the nestbirds they hear me, and to the youngbirds the same. And I'm not very quiet when I go to the birds, so they are disturbed many times," Charles says.

At our question how widowers show their form, Charles thinks every bird has his own way of showing. You just have to know them very well. "Our 'Schallyblauw' was always sitting on the landing board, while the 'Lichte' always practiced landing manoeuvres on the roof. When you expected him to land, he just flew away again."

Widowhood cocks always fly in a flock. The yearlings are put in the free nestboxes in the fall as early as possible. Before shipping they put the nestbowls in. The old widowers are not shown their hens and put in the basket first. After that they show the hens to the yearlings. When the hens are laying down in the nestbowls the cocks are taken and put into the basket. At the Janssen loft there are no big windows the birds can fly in, so they have to get in through the landing board. After the race, they're locked up with their hens and can stay together for half an hour. If it was a bad race they stay longer. The birds that get home later or the next day also get to see their hens. In that case, the other cocks are locked up in their nestboxes. As soon as the hens are away, they put a curtain in front of the windows that is put away in the evening. The widowers are sitting free in the section the whole week. Widowers that are not shipped are not allowed to see their hens. The boxes of the other cocks are closed, of course.

Widowers can easily do two races in one week. You don't bring them out of their rhythm. Every cock has his own strange behaviour. One is very quiet, and the other is very busy. Important is indeed that the cocks must keep their nestboxes under all circumstances. If one is thrown out of his nestbox, you'd better take him from the loft. The cocks stay on widowhood for three months; after that period of time they raise one youngster. Very often they race the former widowers a few times in the autumn. This can do no harm to them. According to the Janssen Brothers, a former widower can easily be a nestbird after; it doesn't do harm to it. They also never had problems with nestbirds arriving at the same time as widowers. They both go as quickly as possible into their own sections. When a widower is racing very well, you should give him the same hen next season.

The Widowhood Hens

The hens play a major part in the success of their partners, according to Charles. The hen must be very much in love with her cock. When some hens are not, they try to get the cocks very angry. They never show him another hen. After showing the hens they go immediately back to their section. Right before the return of the cocks, the hens are locked up with a nestbowl in half the box.

Louis is taking care of the widowhood hens. The way of feeding is the same as for the cocks. The hens are locked up for three months in a box at night on the days they are in the aviary. Only when it's good weather are they allowed to go in there. A hen only is good for widowhood during three or four seasons; after that, the love for the cocks is gone and the interest for the cock isn't there anymore. In order to get used as a breeding hen later on, they advise to keep a hen no longer than two years as a widowhood hen. Double widowhood they never tried so far.

Tip: Take very good care of your widowhood hens and try to keep them healthy, don't treat them like they are of no use. Also watch them very carefully because they often make the prizes for the cocks, Charel says. All of a sudden Charel raises his finger and says, "Don't think you can only race widowhood, because you cannot breed many good youngbirds if you don't know what your good hens are. This way you end up as just a fancier." It's for you to decide!

The Youngbirds

When the youngbirds are weaned they stay for one day at the youngbird section to get used to it. The next day they are put outside on the landing board, in order to have a good look around as soon as possible. This is done daily, as they think this way they will lose less pigeons from the loft. When the youngbirds are too old before they get weaned, they often are lost from the loft because they go into the air and are not familiar enough with the area to come back down. On the first days the brothers watch very carefully because sometimes they fly down or fall down and can't fly all the way to the high roof to get back to the landing board. In the beginning they can fly around from 13.00