Can a chicken live without a head? The story of how Mike the Rooster lived without a head The Rooster lived without a head 18
September 10, 1945. Rooster Mike: the beginning of a second life. Farmer Lloyd Olsen was waiting for his mother-in-law to arrive. In Colorado, it was customary to honor parents, so he and his wife decided to cook a nice dinner in honor of her visit. And, of course, what would a table be without baked poultry? Moreover, the wife’s mother loved chicken necks so much! Lloyd, clutching an ax in his hand, headed towards the chicken coop. Today the choice fell on a rooster named Mike. Olsen, being a farmer, had already carried out the decapitation procedure more than once, so he confidently hacked with the ax, trying to hit as close as possible to leaving most of the rooster's neck.
Lloyd knew that after cutting off a chicken's head, it could still run and fly for a few minutes, so he began to wait. The longer the farmer observed the behavior of the headless bird, the more his eyes “popped out”: after a series of chaotic movements, the rooster Mike, as if nothing had happened, returned to his previous life: he tried to peck grain and clean his feathers. After recovering from the shock and laughing, Olsen decided to leave Mike alone, taking another rooster as a “victim”. Imagine his surprise when the next morning he found a sleeping headless bird with a stump under its wing in the chicken coop...
Since then, Lloyd has sworn off caring for the rooster, every day becoming more and more amazed at the duration of the second abnormal life given to Mike.
Headless but famous!
Rooster Mike continued to live, and Olsen diligently helped him with this: he fed him with milk and small grains of corn from a pipette. He pushed all the food right into his neck. After some time, the farmer thought that it was unfair to hide such a miracle from prying eyes. He put his headless pet in the car and went to the university, wanting to get comments about such an existence. Scientists, having examined the “victim,” gave the following explanations: the ax blade passed very successfully, without touching it, and a blood clot clogged the vein, thereby saving the bird from blood loss. The most important thing is that most of the spinal cord, which is responsible for most of the rooster’s reflexes, has survived. By the way, only one ear remained intact, so his life was not so boring!
Meanwhile, the headless rooster Mike continued to live, get better and fledge. At one point, the farmer decided to use his bird to amuse the people and make money from it. And he went on a tour around the country. People lined up to see the miracle bird, paying 25 cents for the spectacle. Mike the rooster gained great fame thanks to publications in various magazines and the Guinness Book. As a result, its price was set at $10,000.
The rooster lived without his head for another 18 months. His death was absurd and unexpected: at night he choked on his own secretions, and his “guardian” Lloyd did not have time to find a pipette to clear his throat.
The sensational story about the “Amazing Chicken” made such a strong impression on all farmers in the country that many of them tried to repeat Olsen’s “feat”, cutting off the heads of dozens of chickens. But it’s all in vain - no one ever got a second Mike like him.
One day, namely on September 10, 1945, a simple Colorado farmer, Lloyd Olsen, entered the chicken coop, clutching an ax in his hand. He was going to catch and behead a rooster named Mike. Lloyd invited his stepmother to dinner, and she was passionate about chicken. This worthy woman preferred the neck to other parts of the chicken body. Therefore, he chopped the rooster carefully, trying to preserve as much of the neck as possible. Well, even so, it doesn’t take long to chop off a rooster’s head: once - and you’re done. Done, but not quite. Having lost his head, Mike the rooster began to wander around the yard. Lloyd, being a farmer, of course, was not surprised by this: almost all chickens continue to live, run and even fly for a few minutes after the beheading.Lloyd Olsen calmly waited for the headless Mike to flutter away and be ready to be plucked. But Mike suddenly stopped running around randomly, stopped and began making movements that chickens usually do when preening their feathers and pecking at grain. Headless! In general, Lloyd immediately thought that the good mother could eat the neck from another chicken, and this is a miracle, damn it! And he tried to feed headless Mike. Milk from a pipette, small grains of corn - directly into the neck.
Happened.
The headless rooster lived. When he began to choke on his own secretions, Lloyd cleared his trachea with a syringe or an enema. Days passed - Mike did not even think about dying. Rumors spread about the headless rooster. Many doubted. To avoid being branded as a storyteller, Olsen took Mike and went with him to Colorado State University, where experts examined Mike, after which they publicly confirmed that the unprecedented rumors about a headless rooster were true.
Mike became famous. And with him is Lloyd. They began to tour America with a show where the miracle rooster was shown along with other strange creatures. People paid 25 cents to see Mike. At the peak of his popularity, Lloyd earned about four and a half thousand dollars a month demonstrating Mike. In today's money, that's more than forty-eight thousand. Dozens of newspapers and magazines published photos of the incredible bird.
Jealous of Olsen's success, many tried to create their own headless chicken, but all these unfortunate birds lived no more than two days. Mike lived without his head for eighteen months. He probably could have continued to live, but one night, in March 1947, at a Motel in Phoenix, Mike began to choke, and Lloyd suddenly realized that he had forgotten the syringe and enema at the site of the previous performance. It was not possible to clear the rooster's trachea using improvised means, and Mike finally gave up his life.
In Colorado, in the city of Fruita, near which Lloyd’s farm was located and where, in fact, it all began, a monument was erected to Mike. This is exactly what you saw at the beginning of this article.
Of course, scientists did not miss the opportunity to perform a post-mortem autopsy on the mysterious rooster. It turned out that from the blow of the ax, the edges of the walls of the carotid artery stuck together and did not allow Mike’s blood to flow out, and since Lloyd tried to preserve as much of his neck as possible, after chopping off Mike’s head, some tiny part of the brain remained and even one ear, which not only remained, but also was in working order. In principle, this is enough for a rooster to function almost like a full-fledged bird.
Such is the knacker's story.
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“A headless rooster lives on after being hit with an ax.” This is exactly what the headline in LIFE magazine of October 22, 1945 was about an article about... a headless rooster, of course.
“Since September 10,” the magazine informed its readers, “Mike the Wyandotte rooster has been living without a head. Mike lost his head in the traditional way for chickens - Mrs. Olson, the wife of a farmer from Fruita, Colorado, decided to cook dinner and cut off Mike's head. Mike stood up and started walking around as if nothing had happened. Mrs. Olson had most of her skull chopped off, but one ear, the jugular vein and the lower part of the brain that controls motor functions were spared.”
Look at the photo and decide for yourself whether to believe it or not.
1. Mike the Headless Rooster, October 1945. On the day of his “execution,” Mike slept with his head under his wing.
4. Mike on a farm in Colorado. “Miracle Mike,” as some newspapers dubbed him, lived without his head for 18 months. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
5. A suitcase with feeding supplies, including a pipette with which food is placed into the esophagus. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
6. Feeding Mike. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
7. Hope Wade is a promoter who took Mike around the country and made money from it. Colorado, 1945. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
9. Promoter Hope Wade holds Mike's head. Some said that the real head was eaten by the Olsons' cat, and this one belonged to another rooster. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
One day, namely on September 10, 1945, a simple Colorado farmer, Lloyd Olsen, entered the chicken coop, clutching an ax in his hand. He was going to catch and behead a rooster named Mike. Lloyd invited his stepmother to dinner, and she was passionate about chicken. This worthy woman preferred the neck to other parts of the chicken body. Therefore, he chopped the rooster carefully, trying to preserve as much of the neck as possible. Well, even so, it doesn’t take long to chop off a rooster’s head: once - and you’re done. Done, but not quite. Having lost his head, Mike the rooster began to wander around the yard. Lloyd, being a farmer, of course, was not surprised by this: almost all chickens continue to live, run and even fly for a few minutes after the beheading.
Lloyd Olsen calmly waited for the headless Mike to flutter away and be ready to be plucked. But Mike suddenly stopped running around randomly, stopped and began making movements that chickens usually do when preening their feathers and pecking at grain. Headless! In general, Lloyd immediately thought that the good mother could eat the neck from another chicken, and this is a miracle, damn it! And he tried to feed headless Mike. Milk from a pipette, small grains of corn - directly into the neck.
Happened.
The headless rooster lived. When he began to choke on his own secretions, Lloyd cleared his trachea with a syringe or an enema. Days passed - Mike did not even think about dying. Rumors spread about the headless rooster. Many doubted. To avoid being branded as a storyteller, Olsen took Mike and went with him to Colorado State University, where experts examined Mike, after which they publicly confirmed that the unprecedented rumors about a headless rooster were true.
Mike became famous. And with him is Lloyd. They began to tour America with a show where the miracle rooster was shown along with other strange creatures. People paid 25 cents to see Mike. At the peak of his popularity, Lloyd earned about four and a half thousand dollars a month demonstrating Mike. In today's money, that's more than forty-eight thousand. Dozens of newspapers and magazines published photos of the incredible bird.
Jealous of Olsen's success, many tried to create their own headless chicken, but all these unfortunate birds lived no more than two days. Mike lived without his head for eighteen months. He probably could have continued to live, but one night, in March 1947, at a Motel in Phoenix, Mike began to choke, and Lloyd suddenly realized that he had forgotten the syringe and enema at the site of the previous performance. It was not possible to clear the rooster's trachea using improvised means, and Mike finally gave up his life.
In Colorado, in the city of Fruita, near which Lloyd’s farm was located and where, in fact, it all began, a monument was erected to Mike.
Of course, scientists did not miss the opportunity to perform a post-mortem autopsy on the mysterious rooster. It turned out that from the blow of the ax, the edges of the walls of the carotid artery stuck together and did not allow Mike’s blood to flow out, and since Lloyd tried to preserve as much of his neck as possible, after chopping off Mike’s head, some tiny part of the brain remained and even one ear, which not only remained, but also was in working order. In principle, this is enough for a rooster to function almost like a full-fledged bird.
Such is the knacker's story.
On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen from Fruita, Colorado, USA, went to the yard (at the request of his wife) to choose a chicken for dinner. Olsen chose a 5.5-month-old rooster named Mike. After the decapitation, Mike did not move for some time, but then got up and walked as if nothing had happened. Mike's head was almost completely severed, but Mike spent the first night after the decapitation sleeping on a perch with his neck hidden under his wing.Mike was able to balance on the perch and walk awkwardly; he even tried to preen his feathers and crow, although he was unable to do either. After the bird did not die, a surprised Olsen decided to continue caring for Mike, constantly feeding him a mixture of milk and water using a dropper and feeding him small kernels of corn. The entrance to Mike's esophagus sometimes became clogged with mucus, and Olsen used a special syringe to clear it.
Despite his new unusual center of gravity, Mike could easily stay on the high perch without falling. His scream, however, was less impressive and consisted only of a gurgling sound in his throat. Mike also tried to clean himself and peck food. In addition, Mike's weight continued to increase: Olsen said that at the time of decapitation, Mike weighed about 2.5 pounds, while at the time of his death he weighed almost 8 pounds.
Once word got out, Mike began a "career" as a touring attraction in the company of other similar creatures, such as the two-headed calf. He was also photographed by reporters from dozens of magazines and newspapers, including Time and Life magazines.
Mike was exhibited to the public for a fee of twenty-five cents. At the peak of its popularity, the chicken brought in $4,500 a month ($48,000 in 2010 prices) and was valued at $10,000. A pickled chicken head was often displayed next to Mike, pretending to be his head, but in reality his head was eaten by a cat. Olsen's success led to a wave of chicken beheadings in hopes of repeating the same, but no other beheaded chickens survived more than a day or two.
In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix in the middle of the night during a stop on the way home, Mike began to choke. Because the Olsens had inadvertently left food and syringes for cleaning out the esophagus at the show's location the day before, they were unable to save Mike. Lloyd Olsen claimed that he sold the bird, and as a result stories about Mike continued to circulate throughout the country until late 1949. Other sources claim that due to the rupture of the trachea, the chicken could not receive enough air to be able to breathe, and suffocated.
A pathological examination revealed that the ax did not hit the carotid artery, so Mike did not die from bleeding. Although part of his head was severed, most of his brain stem and one ear remained on his body. Since basic functions (breathing, pulse, etc.), as well as most reflex actions, are controlled by the brain stem, Mike remained alive. This case is a good example of how many functions of the nervous system can be performed without the cerebral cortex.
Mike the Headless Chicken is somewhat of a "symbol" of Fruita, Colorado, and there has been an annual "Headless Chicken Mike Day" on the third weekend of May since 1999.
