Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. illegible handwriting, thus v. chickenscratch, to scrawl illgeibly.

1956		W.L. McAtee Some Dialect NC.
1960		Wilson Coll.
2001		S. King Dreamcatcher 594: Poking out of it is a slip of paper, covered with chicken-scratches that have to be Russian, or Cyrillic.
2005		J. Lambert at www.anu.edu.au 🌐 Hartley’s handwriting is chicken scratch of the highest order, and deciphering it is a type of torture.
2011		F. Bill ‘Rough Company’ in Crimes in Southern Indiana [ebook] [A] color Polaroid with ‘Connie and Willie 1980’ chicken-scratched along the bottom.
2017		T. Pluck Bad Boy Boogie [ebook] [P]apers in front of them covered in chicken scratch.
2021		P. Papathanasiou Stoning 77: ‘Can you read this chicken scratch?’.

2. attrib. use of sense 1.

2002

about.com 🌐 The Chicken Scratch Font is an awkward scratchy handwriting. Basically looks as if its been clawed into existence. A perfect font for any occasion, anytime, grunge type enthusiast or not.

3. short, tightly curled hair.

1993

G. Jones ‘White Rat’ in Major (1994).