I love it!!
In fact I have a little game I play when squeezing the chickens - I try to see how many times I can squeeze the chicken to keep him up in the air and not let him touch the ground before my 5 squeezes are over - my max is 4 times, so far....but only because I'm a bad jumper lol.
They do seem MUCH more likely to fly than when I first started playing. I do not mind this behavior.
It actually seems to be based on how quickly you approach them. If you just inch over to them, they don't seem as likely to flee as if you run up or run by.