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  • 2021-07-26 (xsd:date)
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  • Did 'Mike the Headless Chicken' Live for 18 Months After Losing His Head? (en)
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  • For most people, the phrase running around like a chicken with its head cut off is a figurative expression to indicate that someone is acting in a chaotic fashion. But for 18 months in the 1940s, it could have been used literally to describe the headless chicken known as Miracle Mike. In July 2021, a photograph supposedly showing this headless wonder was circulated on social media: This is a genuine photograph of a living, albeit headless, chicken known as Miracle Mike. Before this headless chicken was named Miracle Mike, and before it lost its head, this Wyandotte chicken was being prepped for dinner by Colorado farmer Lloyd Olsen. When Olsen's axe came down, however, he struck the bird at an angle that left the jugular vein, an ear, and most of the chicken's brain steam intact. This allowed the chicken to live despite the fact that the majority of its head had been chopped off. Scientific American writes: In 2014, Dr. Wayne J. Kuenzel, a poultry physiologist and neurobiologist at the University of Arkansas, talked to Modern Farmer about how Mike was able to survive this ordeal. Kuenzel explained that vital functions, such as breathing, as well as motor functions, are controlled by the cerebellum and brain stem, which are both located at the bottom of the chicken's brain. When Mike's head was chopped up, these parts were still intact which allowed Mike to survive. Modern Farmer writes: Not only did Miracle Mike survive his beheading, but with the help of Olsen he lived for approximately 18 more months. According to a September 1945 article published in the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, Olsen successfully fed Mike the Headless chicken by dropping water, worms, and corn into the chicken's exposed esophagus: 19 Sep 1945, Wed Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas) Newspapers.com In 2015, the BBC talked to Olsen's great grandson, Troy Waters, about this local legend. Waters' version is slightly different than the story published in Scientific American. Instead of being prepped for dinner, Waters said that Mike was beheaded at the same time Olsen killed a few dozen other chickens that he was going to sell at the market. When he went to collect the chickens, however, he noticed that one was still strutting around. Waters added that his great-grandpa took the headless chicken with him as he went to sell the other birds and would bet people that he had a living headless chicken with him. The BBC reported: As it became clear that Miracle Mike was not going to succumb to something as trivial as not having a head, Olsen began to tour with the bird, showing him off at various curiosity attractions. Here's a newspaper clipping from The Associated Press about an appearance Miracle Mike made in Salt Lake City, Utah, to convince the skeptical that he was real. According to the newspaper, Mike the Headless Chicken's act consisted of some attempted preening, some gurgling noises, and the remains of his head being displayed in a little jar: 19 Sep 1945, Wed Spokane Chronicle (Spokane, Washington) Newspapers.com While Miracle Mike earned mentions in national publications such as Time magazine, not everyone was a fan. Some wrote letters to newspapers in which they criticized Olsen's butchering skills and said that it was cruel to keep the bird alive. By February 1946, a booker for the Ringling Brothers lamented that the world had run out of freaks, as the best attractions people had to offer were headless chickens. 21 Feb 1946, Thu The Circleville Herald (Circleville, Ohio) Newspapers.com Miracle Mike died in the spring of 1947, about 18 months after he lost his head, during a pit stop on his curiosity tour in Phoenix, Arizona. Waters told the BBC that while Mike could be fed by dropping water and small bits of food down his throat, Olsen occasionally had to use a syringe to clear the mucus. During their stop in Phoenix, Olsen realized that they had left the syringe behind and Miracle Mike suffocated: It should be noted that while the name Miracle Mike may give the impression that this was the only chicken to survive a botched beheading, we found several examples of other headless foul during our research. For example, a headless chicken lived for three months in Morenci, Arizona in 1947. The following clip shows another headless rooster who lived a normal life in Wichita, Kansas: 03 Jan 1946, Thu The Wichita Beacon (Wichita, Kansas) Newspapers.com (en)
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