# Release Pigeon from Apartment



## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

I recently posted about my rescued pigeon on sick/injured topic. Got many good advices. He's now doing great and started to spread out his wings try to fly. I need advice for his future release. 

Back story:
I found him on my window after pigeon pest control activity in my apartment last month. I didn't know about the netting they put. I found him after 3-4 days starving with his small sibling. We found another 2 baby pigeons of similar age from another window as soon as they netted that.

Within a week the small sibling died 😢. The rest was affected with pox followed by canker. The other 2 pigeons died one after another 😭. Now he's the only survivor. I named him Piji.

I live in the apartment's 7th floor. He's always kept in a cardboard box out in my balcony. It has got 5 feet steel structure in front with glass protection. (Attached picture)

Now that he's starting to fly I fear he may fall from balcony in future. As of now he can able to climb out of a shoe box. My family don't want him inside as I have a 2 year old kid. 

I wish him to practice flying safely and may join the other wild birds around the Apartment. Please help me!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

This must be the same one still recovering from pox. Much too early to be released, all those growths must be gone otherwise he will just contaminate other pigeons. Pox is very contagious.

In the meantime: can't you build him a little cage on the balcony? Looks like no predators will be able to get onto there. A large cardboard box turned on it's side with a see through mesh in front will be fine. He will need to get used to the surroundings.

Even after releasing him, you will need to provide him with food and water.


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

Yes Marina it's the same pigeon. I'm not going to release until he's fit enough. That cardboard cage would be a nice idea. Thanks a lot 👍🏼

Btw I care him too much as he's recovering and constantly checking him from my window. So he became so attached to me and jump & try to come out of the box just to be my side. When I leave him to walk in the balcony he comes and sits on my lap and start sleeping in a while. 

Everyone in my family too check him from window so he's not afraid of humans anymore. Yesterday I left him in balcony floor and closed the door to leave him alone. When I peeped through window, he was standing in front of the door waiting for me & refused to even move until I opened the door back. He immediately came sat on my feet. 

I read few threads that people were discussing about releasing pigeons. I now fear will he be able to survive in the wild.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

It's always difficult to release a handraised pigeon, they don't have the same survival skills as other youngsters have that was raised by their parents. The parents teach them where to find food, water and shelter. Without those skills he might probably don't survive.

I will close up the entire balcony, then he will have a nice space to live in comfortable for the rest of his life. You can make him part of your family. The chances are big that you might in the future find more babies that will need to be rescued. Your son won't be affected by the pox.

When he is older (4 or 5 months), he might become more independant of you and will have the need to find a mate. If you see him/her start showing interest in the other pigeons outside, then you can open up the balcony and let him go. By then he will be familiar with the outside area and I'm sure he will come back for food.


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

*Update*

Today morning my pigeon flew away from the box and I can't find her anywhere in the balcony. After desperate search and calling her name, she peeped from the floor above us ( she peeps Whenever I call her name Piji). She came back to our balcony and now refuses to leave my side. 

As mentioned we tried for closing up the balcony but as this is our rented apartment the owner doesn't want to do so. She is now 2 1/2 months old. Started to fly short distance within our house. Today to our surprise she flew pretty well and landed where she wanted to. She has learned to turn corners as well. 

My concern is will she be able to return back in future if she goes out like today ? Or do I need to keep her in cage ? There are so many wild pigeons nearby. If she's lost it is very difficult for us to indentify her. I do not want to stop her being wild if that's her will. I just want her to be safe wherever she is. 

Kindly help me with the situation. Thanks in advance.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Can't you change the owner's mind by telling him the closing up will only be for a month or 2? It doesn't need to be something permanent. One can do a lot with shadecloth.

Otherwise a large cage (maybe you can get a secondhand parrot cage) will do on the balcony for now. You will need to keep him more secure, cause next time he gets out you might not find him. If you have a window that opens on the balcony, maybe you can put the cage with the opening against the open window. That way he can come inside when he wants to and go outside in the cage for fresh air.

Then wait till he gets older. He will eventually stop squeaking and mature in 2 - 3 months. He will become more independant of you (just like they do in nature) and will become more interested in finding a mate.


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

After she came back, she never stays in the box anymore. She's not even going to the balcony. She follows me everywhere inside the house. If any of my family members stay beside her, she is trembling but never leave. She wants somebody to stay near her all the time. 

Last night I managed to put her back in the balcony box where she slept & stayed till morning. Then she flew inside the house and refused to even go eat in balcony. She hates her box and balcony now. 

Tonight it was so tough to keep her in box. Later she somehow managed the darkness and came inside the house following my mother to the kitchen. I sat near the box and calmed her down to sleep. 

She chose my father's bed corner as her territory now (the balcony door is in my father's bedroom). She coos and bites if someone try to grab her out of that place. 

Is cage the only option? Will she stay calm in cage as she's never been in an enclosed space before? What does this behavior indicate?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Get her a cage and put it inside your apartment. Cover up the one half with a blanket to make her feel safer and put some perches inside there. Let her sleep in there at night and put her food and water inside. Let her come out of the cage during the day. I'm sure she will eventually find a spot in your apartment during the daytime where she will spend a lot of time. So hopefully cleaning up her droppings won't be too much of a problem. 

She has proven now that she would rather be inside with you. Sometimes when babies are found at a young age, they do get human imprinted. That means they would rather spend more time with humans than with other pigeons. So you don't have to feel guilty about keeping her.

Once you have the cage ready for her, you can post more photo's so that we can make some recommendations. You can always try and put a mirror inside the cage. Sometimes this keeps them company as well. A male will often attack his own mirror image, where a female will just sit quietly next to it. If a mirror upsets him/her, then rather remove it.


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

Thanks a lot Marina. Meanwhile I put her in the cardboard box turned sideways with mesh door. She was so upset about that. She climbed the mesh hanging on it, ran all around the box, pushed her food & water. She was panicking and I couldn't see that and let her out. She opened her mouth breathed for a while (similar to hen that makes "crack" sound with mouth open... sorry I don't know how to explain ☹)

Then she flew and sat on my arm refused to even sit on the floor. So I put her on top of a cupboard now with food and water. Since then she's calm and had good sleep. 

I don't mind getting a cage for her. Will she be inside that ? Please tell me how to train her to be in cage.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

She will complain about being kept inside a cage. Otherwise, she looks very happy in the photo. If you don't mind cleaning up after her every day, just let her roam the apartment. Once she finds a favourite spot, she will spend a lot of time there.


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## Ladygrey (Dec 10, 2016)

That sweet baby needs to be a pet imo. Pigeon pants! Lol.. or a large airy cage on the balcony can work for when your not home and at night.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi! In my experience a storage shelf is a good way to give to pigeons a place where nesting, sleeping at night, eating, etc...In short, a good pigeon home! 

A cheap one (10 or 15 euro) works well. Just to get you an idea something similar to this one would be ok:

https://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/pro...ablettes-l-72-5-x-h-145-x-p-30-cm-e1500998682

The link is in French language but you can see the photos. 

My pigeons love this solution!

You can easily organize it: I cover all the 4-shelves with paper (I collect free paper around the city) and replace it twice a day. 
I put on one of the shelves a plastic fruit crate like the one in the pic: you just have to put paper inside it. It's easy to wash (for example, you can wash it in the bath tube) and to keep clean, you can also periodically replace it with a new one. It's a good nest or bed! If you want to spoil her, you could put inside the box a cushion covered by a puppy pad trainer (lol I discovered that pigeons love sitting on cushions!). 
Lastly, you just have to put on your storage shelf water and food bowls (or, for food, plastic flower pot saucers). 

As I wanted to protect the wall behind the shelf I put a remnant of wall paper on the back of the shelf (see the pic, btw she is Aurora). 
To protect the floor from poops I put paper on the ground.

Of course, keeping a bird free in a room takes time, patience and a bit of "spirit of sacrifice" 😉 .


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

I finally bought a cage and put PIJI inside. She's so unhappy about it and never settled even a minute 😞 She's anxious and frightened. I hope she gets adjusted soon fingers crossed. 

She escaped the balcony today morning 😞 
I've been sick since yesterday so i didn't wake up early in the morning. My mother said she was searching for you in usual spots and flew right out of balcony. However she came back as soon I went out and called her name. Thank God. 

I see a pattern in her escapes. Her 1st escape was the morning after my son's birthday party. Yesterday some relatives visited us and they went in to see Piji on top of the shelf. Today morning she flew away. 

Anyway I got cage now and hopefully everything goes fine. Attaching the pictures of her cage. Looking forward for your valuable suggestions. 

Thankyou so much Marina, Ladygrey and Colombina.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

The cage is fine. Good job. Now instead of the round perches, can you put a shelf running from front to back on one side? They like a flat perch, rather then a round perch. A flat per is more natural and they don't have to grab it tightly with their feet to roost on it. If you cannot put a shelf in, then just put in a brick. He can use that for a perch. 

If you can get 2 of those round perches that fit in the cage from front to back, you can put them up with a few bars between them, and put a board on them for a shelf. A 4-inch or 6-inch board would work well.


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## sukipij (Mar 30, 2019)

Thank you Jay. Sure will try to get a shelf for her. As she is so upset about the cage I'm planning to use it only in night.

In the previous box I kept her a cloth pinned to the top of the box as roof and she stayed under it at night. Later when she could climb out of the box, she sleeps on that cloth roof like a hammock. Instead of shelf can I put her a hammock in cage ?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Try both, a flat perch and a hammock and see which one she prefers. You can also put a brick or something on the top of the cage for perching during the day. Her food and water can also go inside the cage. Hopefully in time she will start to view the cage as her territory.

A couple of newspapers on the bottom will also help. Every morning you can just remove the top layer with the droppings. Makes cleaning so much easier.


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