releasable

My wife found a baby pigeon six months ago under an overpass and brought the bird home. She has raised the bird until now. We have tried to release the bird on several occations only to find the bird had returned to our backyard shortly after release. We understand that pigeons are homing...

I am treating a feral with a broken leg thanks to a separate thread here...however, generally, if we want to be able to release this bird when/if it is healed...should we be as hands off as possible or ???