Have you ever had much to do with chickens? Lay down a pan of anything and they'll try to eat it. "Chicken in the bread pan picking out dough" is exactly what would happen if you set a pan full of dough down. It's been a song lyric and used in square dancing for a very long time. My mother knew it and I'm in my 60s. You know the old song "Skip to M'Lou"? It's line in that song and sung to that tune too.