Settling is the process of conditioning a pigeon to return to its home loft when released. Best results can be expected from young birds just out of the nest because settling and resettling become more difficult as the age of the pigeon increases. Many different methods are used to settle pigeons to lofts, and no ironclad rules can be set down to cover all situations. The age of the birds, type of loft, and experience of the pigeoneer will determine the method used and success achieved. Two settling procedures will be explained in this section. The first will be for young birds not strong on the wing, and the second for older birds that are strong on the wing. These procedures are general and may be used, with slight variations, to settle birds to all types of lofts. In the case of the combat loft, however, remember that pigeons are trained to recognize a certain type of loft rather than terrain features or geographic locations. A combat loft is moved daily during training so that the birds do not become accustomed to one location. Otherwise settling to a combat loft is the same as settling to any other loft. _a._ SETTLING BIRDS NOT STRONG ON WING. The expression “not strong on the wing” means that pigeons do not have sufficient strength in their wings to stay in the air for sustained flight, for example, youngsters removed from the nest when 28 to 36 days old. These young pigeons are tame and easy to handle; they are not as excitable as older birds because their sense of fear has not yet developed. For these reasons they can be easily settled. They are not strong enough on the wing, however, to stay away from the loft for prolonged periods. (1) _Feed and water._ Feed birds liberally on the first day they are placed in the loft, but never feed them heavily at any time after that. Make sure the water fountain is placed where it can be found easily. Young pigeons should be kept prisoners for about 2 days. During this time watch them carefully to determine whether all have learned how to drink. If any bird appears sleepy it may not have learned how to drink or where to obtain water. This bird can be taught to drink by forcing its entire beak into the water.