chicken scratch

Noun

chicken scratch (countable and uncountable, plural chicken scratches)

1. Chicken feed consisting of random mixed grains such as corn, wheat, barley, sorghum and milling by-products.
   • A soft odor of chicken scratch, mash, and manure always permeated the air when you approached. Attached to the chicken coop was a smokehouse that contained several smoked ham shoulders hanging from hooks.2008, Richard Dwight Apgar, Tough Shit, Eliot: A Yank's Tale, Dorrance Publishing, →ISBN, page 1

   Synonyms:

   scratch[Appendix:Glossary

2. (idiomatic, informal) Cramped or illegible handwriting.
   • The pencil in my hand was limp between my fingers and I couldn't focus on the chicken scratch on the pages. My breathing had become shallow and my heart was racing. I was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack.2014, A. Meredith Walters, Light in the Shadows, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 25

   Synonyms:

   scratch[Appendix:Glossary, scrawl

3. A type of cross-stitch embroidery done on gingham fabric.

   Synonyms:

   Amish embroidery, Depression lace

4. A Tohono O'odham style of dance music derived from norteño.
5. A type of dragging two-step performed to this.