Never race, sell, or eliminate a hen who lays golden eggs, not even when your friends tell you she has passed her prime as a breeder. The only time a hen with the "Nicking Factor" ceases to be a good producer is when she reaches the age at which she no longer lays any eggs. Neither age nor custom stales such a rare pigeon. Her productive power, like her beauty in you eyes, increases until the time arrives when she has no more golden eggs to donate to your future as a pigeon fancier.
Taken from The Strain-Makers
by Old Hand