Our Loft
Siegel Pigeons proprietor Ed Minvielle describes the approach to breeding that he uses in his own loft:
Since the age of five, I’ve been in love with pigeons. Since the age of eight, it’s been racing pigeons that have “floated my boat.” Over the past 25 years, I have collected, studied, bred and raced our feathered friends and have been fortunate enough to develop my own Janssen-based family, a family which has to date produced more winners than I can count.
I’ve bred my birds based on my own philosophy of breeding the best to the best within the family as close as possible. And over the years that philosophy has paid major dividends in helping this family of birds produce outstanding results. And still to this day, it is producing outstanding results.
Since becoming the owner of the Siegel Company in 1989, I’ve added to my old Janssen-based family by going to Europe every year and developing good friendships with some of Europe’s top fanciers. In listening to these masters of our sport, I’ve learned that some of the dominant families in Europe—especially the Grondelaers, the old Van Loons, the Schellens, the Stoces, and many other families that are not so well known in the States—all go back to common origins.
For more than a decade, I’ve been buying the best that I could afford of those common bloodlines. I try to find the super breeding pair in every champion loft I visit, and if available I select youngsters from them
KEY BREEDERS
Some of the key breeders in my loft come from Jean-Claude Debieve’s “Driebander,” “Plaisant,” and “Emilie.” From Willem DeZutter’s “Wondere Dunky,” “Cent,” and “Manue.” From Ludo Claessens’ “Voske 54,” “Supercrack 69,” and “White Golden.” And from the Schellens pigeons from the loft of Van Cauter-Plas, birds down from the world-famous “Fenomenal.” Breeders out of Filip Herbots’ world-famous “National I.” And from the championship lofts of Maurice Casaert and Jan & Kees Bleeker, direct children and grand-children out of their foundation pairs.
I’ve been fortunate to own some of the best Meulemans from the world-famous “Golden Couple.” And on and on. Owning pigeons and breeding racing pigeons is a continually evolving process, and we try to stay at the very cutting edge of this evolution. We currently breed from 42 pairs. Every pair is bred in an individual breeding compartment. Each compartment has an attached private aviary. We can guarantee the pedigree of any bird that we sell. All our breeders are hand-selected in Europe and paired according to pedigree to produce the highest quality racing pigeons possible.
VISIT OUR ASK ED SECTION
Discussing pigeon health and other issues is an essential part of Siegel's president Ed Minvielle's day. Much of his base of knowledge can be harvested in the Ask Ed section of this web site! Id you have a question you don't see submit Ed a question directly.
SIEGEL PIGEONS
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TESTIMONIALS
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