Mike the Headless Chicken

Mike
Mike the Headless Chicken struts.
Other appellation(s)	Mike the Headless Chicken, Miracle Mike
Species	Gallus gallus domesticus
Breed	Wyandotte
Sex	Male
Born	April 1945 Fruita, Colorado, United States
Died	March 1947 Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Nation from	United States of America
Owner	Lloyd Olsen

Mike the Headless Chicken (April 1945 – March 1947), also known as Miracle Mike,^[1] was a Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been mostly cut off. Thought by many to be a hoax, the bird's owner took him to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish the facts of the story.^[1]

Beheading

On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, United States, had his mother-in-law around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen chose a five-and-a-half-month-old cockerel named Mike. The axe missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.^[2][3]

Despite Olsen's botched handiwork, Mike was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily; he even attempted to preen and crow, although he could do neither. After the bird did not die, a surprised Mr. Olsen decided to continue to care permanently for Mike, feeding him a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper; he was also fed small grains of corn.

When used to his new and unusual center of mass, Mike could easily get himself to the highest perches without falling. His crowing, though, was less impressive and consisted of a gurgling sound made in his throat, leaving him unable to crow at dawn. Mike also spent his time preening and attempting to peck for food with his neck.^[2]

Fame

Once his fame had been established, Mike began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other creatures as a two-headed calf. He was also photographed for dozens of magazines and papers, featuring in Time and Life magazines.^[2]

Mike was on display to the public for an admission cost of twenty five cents. At the height of his popularity, the chicken earned US$4,500 per month ($48,000 in 2010 dollars) and was valued at $10,000.^[2] Olsen's success resulted in a wave of copycat chicken beheading, but no other chicken lived for more than a day or two.^{[citation needed]}

Death

In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back home from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of the night. As the Olsens had inadvertently left their feeding and cleaning syringes at the sideshow the day before, they were unable to save Mike. Lloyd Olsen claimed that he had sold the bird off, resulting in stories of Mike still touring the country as late as 1949. Other sources say that the chicken's severed trachea could not take in enough air properly to be able to breathe; and therefore choked to death in the motel.^{[citation needed]}

Post mortem

It was determined that the axe had missed the carotid artery and a clot had prevented Mike from bleeding to death. Although most of his head was severed, most of his brain stem and one ear was left on his body. Since basic functions (breathing, heart-rate, etc.) as well as most of a chicken's reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem, Mike was able to remain quite healthy.This is a good example of central motor generators enabling basic homeostatic functions to be carried out in the absence of the cerebral cortex.

Legacy in Fruita

Mike the Headless Chicken is now an institution in Fruita, Colorado, with an annual "Mike the Headless Chicken Day", the third weekend of May, starting in 1999. Events held include the "5K Run Like a Headless Chicken Race", egg toss, "Pin the Head on the Chicken", the "Chicken Cluck-Off", and "Chicken Bingo", in which chicken droppings on a numbered grid choose the numbers.^[4]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Mike the Headless Chicken's Amazing Story". City of Fruita. 2008. http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/story.html. Retrieved 2008-03-08. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Lloyd, John; Mitchinson, John (2006). The Book of General Ignorance. Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571233686. 
3. ^ "The Rooster". Time Inc.. 1945-10-29. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,776319,00.html. Retrieved 2008-11-13. 
4. ^ "Mike the Headless Chicken Day". salon.com. http://dir.salon.com/story/travel/planet/2000/01/06/chicken/. Retrieved 2008-10-28. 

References

• Amy Reiter (1999). "Mike the Headless Chicken more popular than Clinton". Salon. http://www.salon.com/people/col/reit/1999/05/12/snl/index.html. Retrieved 2008-03-08. 
• Charles Furneaux, executive producer; Gregory Diefenbach, producer; Mark Lewis, producer (2001). The Natural History of the Chicken (Video). PBS Home Video. 
• Silverman, Steve (2001). Einstein's Refrigerator: And Other Stories from the Flip Side of History. Kansas City, Missouri: Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 0740714198. 

External links

• Mike the Headless Chicken.org at City of Fruita
• Mike the Headless Chicken at The Straight Dope
• Mike the Headless Chicken at Life (magazine)