Herman Van Thielen

Ristenstraat 35
B-2270 Herenthout
België

(+32) (0) 14 50 06 92
herman@hermanvanthielen.be

Dear fancier,

My name is Herman Van Thielen, and I live in Herenthout, Belgium. Herenthout is a nice rural town in the countryside near Antwerp. More precisely it is located between Herentals, Lier and Heist-Op-Den-Berg.
Since 1988 I’ve been budgie breeder. I got my first birds from Fons Bogaerts, who died a few years ago. During my first years in the hobby, he was my big help and support, for which I will always be thankful of course. Since the establishment of the Belgian budgie club BGC I’ve been a member, and I started visiting meetings and lectures. Apart from that I try to visit other breeders as often as possible. What appealed to me in the hobby in the first place was the fact that I could do it all year long. Winter might even be more busy than the summer time. The breeding starts around August or September, and finishes around June. In the last couple of years I’ve even let the birds breed all year long. Of course the birds get a period of rest as well, mostly in November or December. During these “dark” months it’s very difficult to get the birds in a good shape, so I tend not to push them. The birds that are in shaped are used as effectively as possible during this period.
Step by step I searched my way in the budgie world, but Of course I met some problems too. In 1996 brutal burglars visited my breeding room. My best birds were stolen, the nests were all emptied, and eggs and youngsters were thrown on the floor. They ruined practically my entire breeding room. All this was even a bigger shame because my birds had won prizes the week before at an important BGC-show in Zandhoven. Several breeders (as Fons Bogaerts, Dirk Dieltjens and René Heylen) gave me new birds to launch my career again. My motivation started rising again, and since then the passion for the birds is bigger then ever. In that period I also started writing articles for the club’s magazine, of which I became editor-in-chief later. Some of my articles can be found on this site.
In the meanwhile I also became a judge. Since 2006 I’m in a partnership with Dirk Meskens, another passionate breeder and judge for BGC and WBO. He accompanied me on several foreign trips where I got the chance to get some experience as a judge. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone that made that possible. I got to judge the Europashow in Karlsruhe together with Cor Booster and Leo Endres. At the Swiss National Show I judged with Ian Eanley, one of the best breeders in the world (Best in Show at the BS-show 2007, together with Mick Freakley. Also special thanks to Marcel Bühler, who made that possible. I also had the opportunity to judge some shows in Great-Britain. In 2006 together with Grenn Norris, and in 2007 together with Grand Finley in Coventry. I would also like to thank Janice and Ghalib Al-Nasser, who organised those shows. Last year I got my final licence as a BGC-judge. During the final exam, the jury was formed by Andy Thorpe and Octaaf Debbaut.
During some years I was president as well as secretary of BGC. Today I’m still the secretary of the club. Since about ten years I represent Belgium in WBO, the worldwide club that unites all national budgie clubs. The social side to the hobby has become more and more important to me, and is what’s appealing to me the most in the hobby at this time. It’s a shame that commercial side of the hobby remains the most important for some breeders. Luckily these people are only a small minority inside the hobby. That being said, I and recommend everyone to become a member of BGC! Personally, my biggest wish is to be able to continue enjoying our wonderful hobby for many  years to come. Enjoy my site, and many thanks for your visit.

Herman