I'm trying to build a farm which moves baby chickens between boxes, with water flow but when I introduce the water flow to a "3x3" area and the chickens they just walk at the bottom"under the water" like it isn't there

What I expected to happen was...:
The baby chickens to get pushed out of the 3x3 area by the water current.

What actually happened was...:
The Chickens just stood there like the water wasn't even there.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Throw egg in closed area
2. Make sure at least 5 spawn
3. Make the water flow from 1 side, the whole side so its even(Use pistons if possible)
4. Make a hole on the other side to the water can flow over an edge(make it open at the same time as the water gets released if you want)
5. See the bug
6. Get angry
7. Fix it
8. Everyones Happy