2001 : 11 Provincial Victories ... ...
1st National Gueret - 10.203 Pigeons

2002 : The Super Year from "Marieke"

2003 : 2nd National La Souterraine - 13.988 Pigeons and
1st OLYMPIAD-Pigeon Middle Long Distance France (Lievin).
. . . etc . . . etc. . . etc . . .

Jos and Jules Engels -Putte

Mechelbaan 601

2580 Putte

Belgium
015 - 757706
015 - 754406

Jos and Jules front of the loft - Right : The Fundation cock from het loft

"Den 231"

The Beginning
1947 – it started like with many fanciers. . . . . Flor Engels began racing with the pigeons. Almost each houses had a loft for pigeons at that time.
This loft went all the way to become the biggest middle and long distance loft of Belgium , or even of Europe . First couple originated from the old brother Jef , with the strain of Van Alphen from Antwerp .
It was clear to everyboda very quickly, that Flor has a lot of talent because he received instantly very good results, definitely better than his brother and neighbour.At first, just like most of the fanciers, Flor began with the sprint, but quickly changed for the middle long distance races.
Jos and Jules , the two sons of Flor were also very interrested in pigeons, and their father was the best teacher they could have. In the last years, the two brothers did all the work around the loft the loft.
What strikes us immediately is the simplicity of these two Champions with a capital "C". Without any exxageration, the two brothers know everyting about the perfomance of all of the best lofts, not only in Belgium , but also outside of the borders of Belgium . The performance of Verbruggen, Vandenabeele , . . . or other top fanciers, they know everyting about it.
Just try asking about only one pigeon and they can tell you the strain and the best results off of the top of their heads. They use the computer but the most reliable computer is their brain ... the succession of the legendary Flor is guaranteed.
In 2002 the unpreventable happened. Flor passed away at a blessed age of 93. By a strange coincidence, at the same time another big personality of the same first name passed away - Flor Vervoort.

The Main Breeders
When we asked which were their best breeders currently, Jos and Jules give directly four names:
" De 178", De 086","De Dikke" and "De 698" . But these are not the only top breeders of the "GOLD Breeding loft". Most of the breeders are rather large, one could call them a good, strong middle long distance type.

" 417/98" - 1st provincial Bourges . . . . etc . . .
" 734/99" - 1st provincial Argenton en 2nd Semi-National 8.405 Pigeons. . . . etc . . .
Currently the number one of the breeding loft.

"De 086" - B97-6362086 Superbreeder and father of "Marieke"
1st OLYMPIADE-PIGEON Middle Long Distance Lievin 2003.
" De Dikke" B90-6237584 - Son "231" won himself 1st semi-national Chateauroux 13.285 Pigeon and 2nd provincial on the same point of liberation out of 1.848 Pigeons - 10th national Bourges 9.759 Pigeons, 48th national Limoges and 18th national Argenton.
" De 698" B93-6529698 Grand Father of "Marieke" and "Gueretje" - 1st National Gueret 2001 and also Grand Father of the 2nd National La Souterraine in 2003.

The founding cock is without a doubt "Den 31" (see picture above). This pigeon's name is to be seen many pedigrees in the "Golden Gallery" of Jos and Jules Engels , and they add "You must have some luck to have a breeder like "Den 231", who would himself provide you with dozens of excelent pigeons.
Other Stock Pigeons who brought fame to the Engels Loft :

" Den 714" B90-6237714
We can find the "Witpender" 304/81 in the tree on both the father's and mother's side.
1st Provincial Bourges 3.246 pigeons - 5th National Bourges 17.048 pigeons - 11th Semi-National Chateauroux 13.996 pigeons - 1st Provincial Poitiers 1.923 pigeons.
Grand Father "Gueretje" 1st National Gueret 2001 (10.203 pigeons)
Father of "097/00" one of the best racing pigeons at the moment of the ENGELS loft
" Den 562" B88-6163562
Son of "231/86" x "660/86 (Daughter of the semi brother "Oude Lichte" ) - 4 x Top 15 National !!!! 3rd National Argenton 3.125 pigeons. - 6th National Bourges 9.550 pigeons. - 7th National Argenton 2.783 pigeons. 15th National La Souterraine 17.343 pigeons.
" Witten" B89-6324103
Son "Witpender" 304/81 (3 x 1st Provincial) x "B85-6568089" (Daughter "B78-6084723", "Oude Lichte") "Oude Lichte" is son of “Zot” 4th National Ace Pigeons Middle Long Distance KBDB 1972
1st National BOURGES 9.756 pigeons - 1st Prov. ARGENTON 2.197 pigeons -5th National Ace Pigeon Middle Long Distance K.B.D.B. 1990
" Dikke Duivin" B89-6324199
1st National La Souterraine 2.053 pigeons - 1st National La Souterraine 847 pigeons (hens) - 3 rd National La Souterraine 1.927 pigeons . - and this in only 2 weeks !!! - 3rd Prov. Vierzon 900 young .
Titles, national victory, championship . . . . . you name it.

Hens on Widowhood.
Every year 30 hens are selected for the widowhood system. The loft is not directly next to the loft of the cocks, to make sure that the cocks will not be disturbed after the daily training. Only the best hens from the youngsters loft are keept for the widowhood system. Each loft is devided into two separate places with 15 boxes in each, and next to it a rest area area with just places to sit. The hens are coupled with old pigeons . First mating is end november, and after some days brood on the eggs, they go to the run. Beginning of March is the time for the second pairing, but this time until they have a young. In this period, they have training each days from 6h00 until 7h00 in the morning and between 18h45 and 19h30 in the evening. After the training they come in the area with the boxes to be feed, and after one hour, they go to the second area without boxes. This system should encourge them to relax.
The races are until the 15th Augustus. First middle long distance races are the first week end of May, for the two last races ( Bourges and Argenton), the hens are paired. Jos gives one young (the age depend of the hen) some days before the basketting day.

. . . and the cocks?
They use the classic widowhood system with the cocks. The old pigeons are on the same date like the hens paired for the first times (end of November). The difference is that they breed the two youngsters and only afterwards go to the run until 15th March. The yearlings stay only until end of january in de run. For the second pairing only 5 days on the eggs, and after start from the season. In favourable weather, Bourges can be reached in five training races. After Bourges , the cocks participate every 2 weeks in one middle long distance races. After the season only eggs, no youngsters, and not for long times, only very short times with the hen, and directly afterwards, they go to the ren for 3 months. According to the brothers, this is an easy system. In this period,a lot of barley is fed, until 75% with 25% breeding.

Playing with youngsters.
The first round consists 100 youngsters , and the second one of 70 , mostly from the breeders. All the youngsters are raced on the Darkness system from 1st March until end of June and from 17h30 until 08h30 . With this systeme only 3 feathers are shed before the last races. The cock and the hen are separated, 1 loft for the hens and 3 for the cocks. The second round is on other loft. First training start in the end of April- begining of May, after Noyon the hens are paired with old cocks and the cocks with old hens. Not for breeding only for pairing, and for widowhood system. Before the basketting the hens and the cocks are together with the old partner for some minutes. For the arrival, they are together for one of two hours or until next morning for difficult races. For the last national races, they have the possibility of one nest.

2001. . . Year from "Marieke"

Philippe FREDERICK with "Marieke" 1st OLYMPIAD-PIGEON
Middle Long Distance Lievin 2003

The breeding loft and the run

2002. . .
The beginning was fantastic. The 25 May, first provincial victory was reached, at Bourges with more than 3.500 pigeons. Not much later the second one on Tours , also 2nd Provincial on Argenton and 2nd Interprovincial Limoges out of 5.196 pigeons. But after Orleans, Jos send for this race 76 youngsters and on the release day, only 26 arrived home. 20 youngsters never came back, and the team was until the end of the season not in good condition.

General Interprovincial Champion O.V.V.
1ste General Champion Midldle Long Distance Houtvenne.
1st Champion Yearling Long distance Union Antwerpen.
3rd General Champion Fondclub Antwerpern.
1ste OLYMPIADE-DUIF Middle Long DistanceLievin France . . . . etc . . . . . etc . . . . .

Results from 2002 (only a part)
18 May : Vierzon Interprov . 4.287 Yearlings 5, 6, 7, 24, 26, 126, 241, 244, 288, 440, 476, 516, 608, 699, (14/18)
18 May : Vierzon Interprov . 2.266 Old Pigeons 7, 16, 51, 77, 110, 115, 124, 125, 141, 167, 249, 254, 329, 423, 574, 577, 602, (17/19)
25 May : Bourges National 16.945 Yearlings 7, 138, 152, 259, 326, 331, 338, 424, 587, 768, 827, 838, 991, 1178, 1191, 1507, 1508, 1860, 2118, 2355, 3965, 4078, 4226, (23/33)
25 May : Bourges National 23.957 Old Pigeons 9, 58, 103, 138, 152, 173, 329, 430, 513, 560, 799, 1471, 1902, 2081, 2184, 2255, 2855, 3232, 4028, (19/23)
1 June : Brive Interprov . 8.871 Old Pigeons 32, 69, 472, 596, 1996 (5/6)
1 June : Chateauroux Prov . 2.327 Yearlings 16, 21, 155, 330, 650, (5/6)
1 June: Chateauroux Prov .2.027 Old Pigeons 16, 18, 25, 31, 66, 249, 473, (7/9)
1 June : Tours Prov . 2.066 Yearlings 29, 42, 50, 60, 81, 118, 175, 213, 263, 287, 321, 403, 441, (13/14)
1 June : Tours Prov . 2.004 Old Pigeons 18, 49, 65, 74, 99, 125, 144, 223, (8/10)
8 June : Chateauroux Prov . 2.940 Yearlings 72, 91, 123, 136, 153, 160, 172, 196, 377, 427, 440, 609, 878, 882, 939, (15/16)
8 June : Chateauroux Prov . 2.687 Old Pigeons 101, 126, 131, 140, 142, 153, 162, 176, 181, 201, 220, 223, 239, 313, 452, 464, 496, 516, 698, ( 19/23)
22 June : Argenton Semi-National 10.461 Old Pigeons 21, 29, 134, 330, 370, 461, 469, 617, 732, 900, 921, 1173, 1245, 1983, 2244, 2478, (16/21)
22 June : La Souterraine Interprov . 5.521 Old Pigeons 28, 38, 84, 85, 112, 306, 316, 321, 365, 526, 594, 633, 666, 691, 714, 809, (16/19)
07 July : Limoges Interprov . 5.196 Old Pigeons 2, 5, 42, 82, 139, 190, 287, 321, 460, 543, 544, 568, 619, 967, 988, 1051, 1080, 1112, 1427, 1679, (18/25)
07 July : Limoges National 16.945 Old Pigeons 8, 29, 183, 377, 657, 893, 1354, 1502, 2147, 2458, 2460, 2559, 2727, 3943, 4027, (15/25)
20 July : Souillac Interprov . 1.628 Old Pigeons 23, 39, 46, 82, 105, (5/6)
7 Sept : Gueret National 1.626 Old Pigeons 18, 24, 38, 71, 72, 316, (6/9)

and 2003 ? ? ?
After the Orleans, lot of fanciers thought that the Brothers Engels dont have the capacity to do the same like the in other years, also due to the difficult start because the Flow plague. But the Brothers achieved fantastic results again, for example in the 2nd National La Souterraine and 3 provincial victory.
1st Provincial Argenton 648 pigeons.
1st Provincial Orleans 12.961 pigeons.
1sr Provincial Vichy 1.144 pigeons.

The second place on La souterraine after the neighbour Champion Van Hove-Uytterhoeven from the same village of Putte . The two provincial vicory are with the same hens, the 150/2000. "Good blood don't lies". In the pedigree we can found the legendary "231". From the line "178" , direct son of the "231". The "150" of "Provincialke" won 339th on 16.119 pigeons Bourges in 2001 and in 2002 the 61th on 10.401 pigeons.

Results from 2003 (only a part)
28 Jun : Pithiviers Keerbergen. 1.085 Young - 2, 27, 30, 34, 67, 82, 102, 122, 207, 214, 226, 270, 342, (14/30)
05 July : Limoges National Zone B - 5.491 Old Pigeons - 60, 74, 183, 184, 194, 362, 460, 478, 527, 625, 633, 684, 741, 1073, 1287, (15/20)
05 July : Melun Union Prov. 867 Old Pigeons - 3, 9, 20, 147, 160, 187, 275, (7/8)
05 July : Pithiviers Keerbergen. 969 Young - 6, 16, 48, 49, 62, 80, 86, 107, 129, 130, 166, 178, 217, 225, 241, 322, (16/26)
12 July : Orleans Hafo. 627 Young - 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 18, 20, 26, 27, 30, 37, 38, 40, 56, 70, 75, 89, 96, 119, 127, 132, 156, 161, 167, 178, 199, 203, (29/59)
12 July : Orleans Provincial. 12.961 Young - 1, 33, 37, 39, 42, 94, 101, 156, 171, 247, 250, 307, 464, 472, 509, 808, 912, 985, 1109, 1283, 1666, 1765, 1831, 2144, 2325, 2464, 2676, 3328, 3455, 4056, 4188,. . . (31/59)
12 July : Orleans Provincial. 3801 Old Pigeons - 15, 20, 21, 60, 93, 356, 384, (7/8)
26 July : Marne-la-Vallee - Hafo. 816 Young - 1, 7, 11, 13, 18, 50, 63, 85, 124, 129, 134, 161, 162, 163, 166, 169, 171, 178, 194, 221, 222, 235, 240, 268, 269, 270, (26/36)
02 Aug : Sens Keerbergen. 696 Young - 11, 12, 16, 21, 50, 52, 56, 76, 81, 82, 89, 90, 109, 121, 131, 159, 169, 172, 181, 186, (20/28)
16 Aug : Bourges Prov. 195 Old Pigeons - 3, 9, 16, (3/5)
23 Aug : La Souterraine Interprov. 4.003 Young - 2, 83, 100, 143, 259, 370, 383, 478, 499, 504, 802, 1039, 1060, 1104, 3370, (14/24)
23 Aug : La Souterraine National Zone B. 4.735 Young - 2, 109, 133, 220, 406, 604, 625, 785, 812, 818, (10/14)