Chicken lies / sits down to eat - something wrong?

[tessa123123]

We have kept chickens for 7 years now, but after moving house, we decided to have a fresh start and buy 7 Point of Lay hens, all hybrids of different breeds, Sussex, RIR, Marans, etc.
On getting them home, we scattered some feed in their run, and to our surprise, 3 of them walked up to the food, sat down and pecked the food around where they were sitting.
Has anyone ever observed this type of behaviour or know what causes it and is it 'normal'?
We have never seen it before.

 

[aart]

Maybe they are a little nervous in the new environment and are keeping a low profile(haha) until they feel safer?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have seen chickens sitting while eating when they are enjoying the large quantity of food provided. It is their way of saying, "Look at how much food there is!"

Mine do it sometimes if I dump a large quantity of treats down in front of them.

 

[azygous]

Or they might be overweight. It's hard on a chicken's legs to be a lot heavier than they ought to be. It wouldn't hurt to weigh each of your new chickens. (Just get on a scale holding the chicken. Compare.

Or feel around the keel (breastbone) of the bird. Is it so plump you can barely feel the ridge of that breastbone?

If too fat, the chickens will be courting liver disease and early death, not to mention crippling leg problems.