I squeezed a chicken and 'discovered' an unfamiliar juice (doh, forget the name, but it was in a tall glass, had a purpley colour and sped up my learning skills for a couple of minutes). I thought it was a little odd at the time...
Hey keybob! The items appeared in my inventory, and they were announced by a popup that said, rather excitedly, that I had discovered a new item. I think that they appeared when the (unrelated) action I was taking completed, but it's hard to be completely sure.
I think the popups dramatically announcing these rewards is new though. The sudden context change did feel a little odd - it wasn't so much that I got a free drink from a chicken, but the way it trumpeted my "discovery".