‘MIKE’, THE HEADLESS CHICKEN THAT LIVED 18 MONTHS BEFORE HE DIED

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Mike, the headless chicken, also known as Miracle Mike, was a Wyandotte chicken that managed to survive for 18 months after being beheaded.

It all happened on September 10, 1945, in Fruita, Colorodado (United States). That day, farmer Lloyd Olsen Zweedijk went out to find a chicken for his wife to cook. Once in the barn, Olsen chose a rooster of about five and a half months named ‘Mike’, however at the time of decapitating his neck, the chicken already without its head continued walking awkwardly towards the pen with the other birds.

He even tried to cluck, though he couldn’t, as the only sound he made was a low chirp coming from his open esophagus. Seeing that the bird did not die, Mr. Olsen decided to leave it in the pen to bleed to death. The next day after returning to the corral, Mr. Olsen’s jaw dropped to see that Mike was still alive.

Mr. Olsen understood that Mike had more value in that state than being cooked in a pot, so he decided to take care of him. In order to feed Mike, he had to be done through a dropper in which a mixture of milk and water was given. They also provided him with small grains of corn so that he would not lose heart due to malnutrition.

The most incredible thing was that with that diet Mike was gaining weight, since weighing just over a kilo, he went to 3.5 in just a few months. It was also necessary to use syringes to clean the mucus that accumulated in his throat. In this way, the chicken’s windpipe was not covered, preventing it from dying from lack of oxygen.

THE FAME OF THE HEADLESS CHICKEN

After Mike achieved some fame, many people thought it was a fraud, so Farmer Olsen decided to take him to Salt Lake City to be studied by scientists at the University of Utah, and confirm his authenticity. The explanation was simple: Mike’s misguided chop did not damage the carotid artery, and despite the fact that most of his head was severed, one ear and most of the brain stem were left intact.

In fact, a clot was the determining factor in keeping Mike from bleeding out; And since the basic functions (breathing, heart rate, etc.), as well as most of a chicken’s reflex actions, are controlled by the brainstem, Mike was able to stay alive and in acceptable health for a long time.

Later Olsen wanted to benefit from Mike, and decided to show him around the country presenting him as a true ‘miracle’. In no time a star was born, as Mike made headlines in dozens of newspapers and magazines, including Time and Life. Initially, Mike’s owner charged 25 cents per person, just for showing it publicly; although at its most popular, chicken generated $ 4,500 per month, which would be equivalent to about $ 50,000 today (2005).

With these numbers Mike was valued at about $ 10,000, but not everything would be rosy. Due to the media coverage it was at that time, a wave of chicken beheadings was unleashed to see if the same thing happened as with Mike, but most only survived a day or two. The one that lived the longest was a chicken named Lucky, but it did not exceed 11 days.

THE DEATH OF MIKE

Mike’s life vanished in March 1947 after stopping at a Phoenix, Arizona motel while on a tour. Suddenly Mike began to suffocate in the middle of the night, because his windpipe couldn’t get enough air to breathe. When the Olsen were awakened by the noise of the animal, they looked for the cleaning syringes but had forgotten them at the previous fair. It didn’t take long, when they finally realized that Mike had suffocated and was lying dead from suffocation.

Currently the spirit of the famous headless chicken continues more alive than ever. So much so that the city of Fruita, Colorado, decided in 1999 to celebrate a day in his honor. Since then, every year, on the third Sunday in May, games are organized whose protagonists are the chickens. There is even a sculpture with his name located in the center of the city. You can actually visit his own website (www.miketheheadlesschicken.org). All to celebrate “Mike’s courage and will to fight.”

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