Karel Meulemans by Tuspalomas

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Copied from Facebook 30th December 2025

by: tuspalomas in Colombofilos 

karel meulemans
Karel Meulemans' famous palomar of Arendonk is a legend in Colombophilia.
A breed of pigeons that has been scattered all over the world like the Janssen themselves, with the difference that Karel has won the same many 1st prizes, starting in the 50s to continue winning even today (2007).
Most fans think Karel's pigeons are mid-ground. This is not true, Karel started with the big bottoms in the 90s, loose 700-850 km.
Won his first National in 1995 and became champion of Belgium KBDB in 2001
from those distances.
He wanted more, the real long distances too. He set up his mind to be on top of the big funds and became a famous fund maker in the province of National Antwerp.
Race and History

Karel Meulemans now 74 years old, retired in 1990. He used to work on a farm, his own farm. After World War II it started with pigeons. Met a fellow Adriian Wouters who traveled together his pigeons.
They had a famous breeding couple famous in the world: "Oude Van Den Bosch X Janssen, a few years later he had Frans Marien as a Colombophile partner. Marien & Meulemans came to be very successful in the middle.
Raising and flying their pigeons, many Colombophiles got first prizes in the middle background with descendants of their pigeons.
In 1980 Frans Marien died and all the pigeons were sold at a public auction, Karel bought most of the best travellers:
Chalet, Prins , Het Schoon , Donker , Bonte Duif were crossed with the best of Hofkens pigeons. Karen immediately succeeded.
Her daughter Linda began to be interested in pigeons and formed tandem with her from 1981-1990.
In 1986, some famous pigeons like Karen were stolen from their pigeon farm. In 1990 in Tandem Meuleman and Damen began, Damen the husband of Linda Meulemans, Linda and Walter Damen live in a house near Karel.
The big success in the big fund started in 1995. Meulemans and Damen won the 1st National of Dax, 2nd International and 8th AS long bottom pigeon.
The base traveling pigeons in the 90s were Montargis 245/88 (son of Het Schoon Donker), the super female in the middle background 467/95 (1st Bourges and 7th National Argenton) sister of the main breeder 118/90, the 401/95 (daughter of Montargis), 347/91 ( mother of Dax's 1st National and sister 118/90), 345/91 ( blue female
with 1st Melun among 1,780 pigeons, 8th National Argenton among 27,499 pigeons), the red 311/90 (father of the 1st National of Dax, cross between chalet, Prins and Georges Bolle.
But the main breeder was 118/90 which has an interesting story when
Meulemans and Damen got the KBDB large fund national championship in 1999,3 sons of 118/90 were their best travelers, these three brothers, Pantano 868/96 , 590/96 and 591/96 won numerous awards.
On the day of the national championship in Ostend they asked Karel to bring some pigeons to teach the guests there attendees.
Karel showed the 118/90, but at night this male was stolen, Karel had to go home without the father of his three best travelers in the year 1999, he was disappointed, but he knew that the male was no longer fertile, had not had children in the last two years.
A few months later, the 118/90 returned to the palomar of Karel Meulemans, the thieves probably tried to get him out, but to the power, they had released it.
The father of 118/90 is the 758/89 obtained from an egg from Van Gils brothers of the 1st National of Marseille with his 1st National of Pau 87 , the mother of 118 /90 was the 233/89 ; from the old line Meulemans and Het Schoon Donker.
Method:

Karel, Linda and Walter have 65 widows, including the yearlings. All widows are coupled on March 20, old widows can peck 5-6 days and yearlings 17-20 days, not pichones.
After the Perpignan all widows can hatch eggs twice but never piglets.
In 2001, Karel arrived to travel 6 females to the natural, participating up to mid-back in the first position, in the second position, they went up to 550 km twice. , in the third position with 2-3 days pichons were sent to Perpignan 965 km. Karel won 40-43-161 National 5 women he ruled.

Karel advises beginners to at first focus on the loose speed and half bottom, it takes many years to succeed in long distances and some amateurs to focus on all modalities and not specifically on one do not reach success in any and lose interest and stop traveling pigeons.