The Chicken Reel has a melody that sounds almost comical. The way it hangs on the minor third note and goes into the major third note, makes it sound like it's unsure of what it want...
Most people play this tune in D. A lot of flat-pickers might play out of C shape with the capo at the third fret, but if you take off the capo you open up new melodic opportunities. ...
Cross-picking is the only way to play this like a fiddler out of C position. Let's get to it. Flatten your middle finger to get the 2nd fret on the G string in measure 2.