Mike the Headless Chicken captivated the world with his improbable existence. Imagine a chicken living without its head for a staggering 18 months.
It's a story that defies the natural order, leaving us both bewildered and intrigued.
The Headless Chicken miraculously survived after being struck with an axe in a slaughter attempt
Back in 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Colorado faced an unusual task: selecting a chicken for dinner.
Lloyd Olsen decided to choose the five-and-a-half-month-old chicken, Mike.
Mike was then struck with an axe in a slaughter attempt. However, despite Olsen's swift axe stroke, Mike remained alive, headless but undeterred.
To sustain Mike's headless life, Olsen improvised. He fed him a concoction of milk and water through an eyedropper, supplemented by bits of corn and worms. Remarkably, Mike behaved like any other chicken—preening feathers, scratching the ground, and even attempting to crow (albeit with a gurgling twist).
Mike, then famous in the world, miraculously survived after being struck with an axe in a slaughter attempt.
Mike's survival became a sensation. He toured as a sideshow attraction alongside other curiosities, gracing magazine covers and captivating audiences.
His owner raked in an impressive $4,500 per month (equivalent to over $72,000 today) from Mike's bizarre existence.
How did Mike defy death? One theory suggests that Olsen's axe missed Mike's jugular vein, preventing immediate bleeding. But what about his chicken-like behavior?
Here's where it gets intriguing: Mike's brainstem and one ear survived the decapitation.
These vital components maintained homeostasis and, combined with balance organs elsewhere in his body, allowed Mike to walk and balance.
Mike was born like a star and died like a star. On March 17, 1947, when Mike and his owner were staying at a hotel in Phoenix, the chicken choked on a few corn kernels.
Since there was no emergency vehicle in time, Mike died. Lloyd didn't want to say that Mike was dead, so he told the media that he had sold Mike.
Mike, the famous headless chicken, has a statue built in the city of Fruita to commemorate him. There is even a headless chicken festival held every May to commemorate this peculiar headless chicken.
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