These portable lofts are made from a dog carrier. You can get a pair of lofts from one carrier, one vented and one with solid sides. You can use them for two kits, or you can use the vented one in the summer and the solid one in the winter. I screwed a 1x2 frame inside the top of the carrier and added a pegboard top. Note the open "drop trap" on the top loft. About 3/4 of the top is a hinged door for releasing the birds. The wire front is used as a service door. There are no perches in these lofts.I use dust-free kitty litter for floor liter. The only thing kept in the loft is a grit container.
Flying rollers from a portable loft is basically the same as flying them in the backyard, except that you have to pay much more attention to details. If you decide to fly when conditions are not right you can expect to spend hours waiting for birds to trap, or loosing many of them. Feeding properly is probably the most important thing, as we don't want the birds to fly too long or range too far. Another important thing is to quickly remove any bird that is not behaving properly, especially if he is roaming too far. Some families of rollers simply need less feed than others and mixing them may become a problem later. The weather can also cause more trouble with the portable birds, especially wind. If the birds get blown away they will be in unfamiliar territory and most will get lost. As the birds are homing in on the loft and not thier surroundings they should be in sight of the loft at all times. Anything that prevents them from staying close will almost certainly cause problems.
I start training the youngsters how to trap the day after putting them into the portable loft. While continuing to whistle at them, I place a pan of feed in the loft and let them eat just a little. Then one at a time I gently put them through the trap and let them eat some more while the next one goes through the trap. I will repeat this process with each bird many times at each feeding. When I feed them the next day I will set them on top of the loft and see if they will trap by themselves. Some birds will peek into the loft and be scared to drop in, so I let them take their time. They can see the others eating and this will usually overcome their fears. I help the ones that don't drop after a few minutes. Every bird will go through the trap several times again, with or without my help. At this stage the ones that are trapping slowly will be getting less food than the others and will be hungrier and faster the next time. By the end of the second day most of them should be trapping quickly when you call them in.
Using a training cage will make it safer to let the birds get used to sitting on top of the loft before feeding. By using a training cage the birds will also be able to see their surroundings before flying and also learn to take off straight up. I will use the training cage a few times at home before traveling, but don't want the birds to get too used to seeing familiar surroundings. You could do all of this training on the road if you wanted to. The cage that I use is simply a wire cage about the size of the kit box, with no floor and a large door on the top. I lift the edge of the cage and place all of the birds in it and let them sit for awhile. After around 15 minutes I will open the trap door and call them in. Once again after they trap and eat a little, they go back on top to repeat the process. At this point the ones that aren't trapping well will go hungry. If any continue to not trap we will have to consider removing them from the kit, but this is rare at this age.
After a couple of days using the training cage they are ready to be moved around. For the first several days, I like to take them to a different place every day. Park the vehicle in a quiet wide open place and set the kit box on top of it. Put the birds into the training cage and let them sit for around 20 minutes or so. I usually spend this time eating lunch or catching up on paperwork. After awhile trap them in and take them home. I usually feed them right after they trap, but give them water after we get home.
After a week or so of watching your birds flying everywhere they should start kitting and acting like any other young rollers. Now is the time to really be aware of birds that are ranging too far, or flying too long. These birds may do better in the home kit. Your birds are getting stronger now, but they are still babies and very stupid, so you need to really pay attention to them. At this time I start flying every other day at most. I give them the regular rations after flying and cut them back the day before their next fly. This way the growing birds are getting enough to eat, but are still under control. I like to regulate the feed so that the birds will fly between 15 and 30 minutes. If you overfeed them they could easily fly for a couple of hours, and I don't like to wait that long for them. I bascally rotate the kit between 6 different flying places, and a new place every week or so. At places where they have flown before, I just open the release door on top of the loft and let them fly. I still sometimes use the training cage to let them get a good look around before letting them fly in an unfamiliar place.
The Exercise Pen
When I can't fly the birds for several days, I will let them fly in a large exercise pen. I still release them for the regular amount of time and trap them in as usual. You could put them into any large fly pen and let them get sunlight and exercise. This is also a good place to let them get a bath.
I've tried to explain most of the important steps in training portable rollers, but there is always more to learn. I learn something almost everytime I let them fly (usually what not to do again). Almost every bird that I've lost and every hour I've waited is because I didn't follow my own advice. I don't know it all and never will, but will keep trying new things to put up a better kit. I do hope that this information will take some of the mystery out of flying portable and give someone the motivation to start flying portable, it's a great way to fly!
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