chicken scratch

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.

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.