I have a question.
I walked into a village and I killed a chicken for fun.
And then the entire villaged wished to murder me.
In oblivion you could defend and then press space to surrender.

How do you surrender in Skyrim?

If I recall the loading tip correctly, you sheathe your weapon. It may require talking/activating, too.

R

You talk to a guard, usualy the guard will chase after you first and will forcefully put you into the normal script of:

Pay fine,
Jail,
Never(Fight)!

If there is no guards around, then just run away, but be careful. Sometimes they hire mercenary's, like when I pick-pocketed a Inn Owner..... 3 mercenary's I mean c'mon.

Killing chickens in Skyrim it seems is an offense punishable by town lynching and/or death!

Hmm I did try sheating my weapon.
And pressing E but to no avail.
I'll try again next time.

I just walked into my first town, and I saw a chicken.
And I thought wow a chicken! What a beautifull beast!
Let's see how it reacts to the world.
It walked around and .... boring let's use the new magic double flamethrower option to roast it.
And it was hilarious . And then suddenly someone hit me in the head with a war axe and the entire villaged tried to kill me.

Lol glad I am not the only one. I too am a victim of these tough laws in Skyrim. The villagers chased me so far I gave up and got slaughtered. I mean, I'm pretty sure I had enough loot in my bag to cover the cost of the chicken. Taking someones livelihood in Skyrim, it seems, is a crime punishable by death. I don't recall the citizens of Morrowind or Oblivion caring one bit about killing their livestock though...

Damn Zelda for making me want to kill livestock in video games for comic relief.

If there's one thing Red Dead Redemption taught me, it's that people who steal your animals should be put to death.

Bleeding horse thieves stranding me in the desert.

I′m a bit dissapointed that one fo the major faults of oblivion was put in the new game .