About Mike the headless chicken or Miracle Mike

May 20, 2011 • 12:57 pm • POSTED BY Tammo Walter

Going through a German newspaper this morning I came across a story that not only sparked my interest to dig a little deeper but also made me think this is so crazy it’s worth it to share.

The following story is about Mike the headless chicken or also known as Miracle Mike. A Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off. Yes, it lived for 18 more month after its head had been cut off with an ax in 1945 by owner and farmer Lloyd Olsen in a little American town called Fruita in Colorado, USA. First it was believed to be a hoax but not long after it hit the news it became clear that it was indeed strange reality. So what happened.

Expecting his mother in law for a visit on September 10th 1945, good old Lloyd went out to slaughter a few chicken. He knew his mother in law especially enjoyed eating the neck therefore he wanted to keep as much of it as possible. The first doomed chicken in line was a rooster named Mike. Once separated from his head, Mike ran off, still alive. Knowing that this is not abnormal Lloyd moved on paying attention to get the job done with the other chicken. But, damn Mike didn’t die and even after spending a night in a box to keep his disturbing appearance away from his mother in law Mike was as lively as ever. Now being intrigued for how much longer that poor rooster could survive Lloyd started feeding him with a pipette. After a week he wanted to know what the hell was going on and drove Mike 300 miles to the University of Utah.

There doctors there realized that Lloyd had chopped off the head but he had missed a jugular vein and most of the brain stem. And on top of it a blood cloth prevented that poor Mike didn’t bleed to death. With the attention Mike had gotten within a week alone in Fruita Lloyd and his wife Clara figured they could probably make a buck or two with the headless creature and started traveling the country. Mike became famous and was featured in magazines such as “Time” and “Life”. However, Mike’s career came to a sudden stop at a motel in Phoenix sometimes in March 1947 on their way back from a tour. Dealing with a severed trachea Mike couldn’t get enough air and choked to death in the middle of the night.

While Mike’s fame faded shortly after his death his spirit was awakened in by Fruita’s chamber of commerce sometimes in 1999 when looking for a hook to draw tourists attention. Now why did I read about this on a Friday morning in a German newspaper. Because thousands of tourists from around the world celebrate every year in the 3rd week of May the “Mike the Headless Chicken Day”. So, every looked for a weird event to attend? Get yourself out to Fruita, Colorado for the 2012 “Mike the Headless Chicken Day”. Find more information about it here: Fruita, Mike, “Mike the Headless Chicken Day”.