Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. US) to act in a cowardly or otherwise distasteful or half-hearted manner.

1960, 1975		Wentworth & Flexner DAS.
1968		G. Cuomo Among Thieves 173: Everybody started chickenshitting around then, razzing and blowing off.
1985		P. Auster City of Glass (1988) 37: [He] chicken-shits a little grounder to first.
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 35: Chickenshit his way through this world, sneak into the next.