The crate should be furniture before it is transport
Chickens fear novelty more than confinement, so remove the novelty first. Set the actual show or sale crates in the run or shed with the doors fixed open, straw bedding inside and a scattering of feed or treats in the doorway, and let the flock explore them as part of the scenery for a good stretch of time. Hens will begin wandering through, perching on top and scratching in the bedding; that indifference is the foundation everything else is built on. Using the real crates matters — a bird trained in one kind of carrier meets show day in a wire show crate as a stranger again.
Close the door in stages
Once birds stroll through happily, begin shutting individuals in for a few calm minutes while you potter nearby, then release them back to the flock as though nothing happened. Lengthen the sessions gradually, then add the sensations of travel one at a time: the crate lifted and carried a few steps, set down in a new place, loaded into a stationary vehicle, and finally taken on a short, gentle drive. Handling practice belongs in this stage too — a show bird will be lifted out by a judge or steward, so practise reaching in, drawing her out smoothly and putting her back until the manoeuvre bores her. Birds who panic at any stage get more sessions at the stage below, not more pressure at the one that frightened them.
Practise at the hour they will travel
Show and sale days start early and strangely, so rehearse that too. A bird who has only ever been crated at midday meets sale day at dawn, half asleep and caught in low light — a different experience entirely. Do a couple of practice sessions at the time of day you will actually catch them, in the same dim conditions and the same order: catch quietly, crate calmly, load, short drive, home again. Feeding inside the crates the evening before a practice — and later, before the real day — gives the whole routine a reward at its centre.
The day itself: familiar smells, familiar order
On show or sale morning, the crates should carry the flock's own bedding rather than pristine straw, because the smell of home is a comfort no judge can see. Catch birds in the practised order, crate companions who get along together where the crate size allows, and keep crated birds shaded, ventilated and out of the crush until their moment. A trained bird arrives composed, feathers unruffled by a fight with the box, ready to be looked at — which is, after all, the entire point of the preparation.
Write down what each bird taught you
Keep a short note per bird: who travels quietly, who needs a companion in the next crate, who must be caught first because she alarms the flock. That knowledge is worth a great deal at the next show, and for a bird being sold it is a kindness to the buyer — the difference between a hen who settles within days and one who arrives as a mystery to be solved from scratch.
When a crate-trained bird is sold, KinsLe Transferrable Profiles let her record — including the catching order, crate companions and routine that keep her calm — move to her new owner with her history intact, so the steadiness you trained is not lost at the gate.