Mike - The headless chicken of Colorado
With his head chopped off by the owner, Mike still managed to live for another 18 months
COLORADO: (Web Desk) – Colorado still celebrates Mike the Headless Chicken Festival despite the fact that it’s been more than 6 decades since Mike’s unceremonious death. Mike’s head was chopped off one fine morning by his owner Lloyd Olsen, a farmer by profession, to prepare food for his mother-in-law.
As soon as Olsen chopped his head off, Mike started to roll and reel down the floor like any chicken with his head chopped off but he stabilized later to Olsen’s surprise. Olsen had actually chopped his head off with his axe, missing his actual target that was Mike’s jugular vein. According to the poultry physiologists, a chicken’s head has two large holes to hold his eyes while the brain fits further inside. This helped Mike survive the axe and Olsen was so frightened to see the scene that he left Mike on his own.
Next morning, Olsen went into the room where Mike was and decided to find a way to feed this headless thing. Olsen was happy to see that there was still a simple way to feed the chicken and all he had to do was to put water and food directly into Mike’s oesophagus through an eyedropper to keep him alive. By missing Olsen’s axe, Mike’s brain was able to perform all the functions like digestion, respiration and the other routine functions. Yes, he had lost his eyes and his peak, turning his crows into gurgling, but Mike was still very much alive.
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Within a few days, Mike became a celebrity in town. People from all parts of the city came to Olsen as he displayed before them his wonder named Mike – The Headless Chicken.
Finally, Olsen decided to make some money out of this strange accident, in which the chicken had accidentally survived. Mike became a star within a few days only. Newspapers like Time Magazine and Life did stories on him and in a short span of time Mike was able to register his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. Although many others tried to chop their chickens’ heads off for making money like Mike, none of the unfortunate victims survived for more than a day or two, according to John Mitchinson’s report in the Book of General Ignorance. According to this report, Mike was making 4500 dollars a month at the height of his fame and was valued at 10,000 dollars.
But this good time was short lived. One day, when Olsen and Mike were staying at a hotel in Phoenix while on a tour, Mike suddenly started to choke as something had stuck into his throat. It was only then that Olsen realized that he had forgot Mike’s eyedropper at the place where he had performed a show one day earlier. Mike was unable to clear his airways and thus died an unceremonious death.
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University of Utah confirmed that Mike had lived mainly because a blood clot in his neck allowed him to survive Olsen’s axe some 18 months before his death. It is interesting to note that Mike grew fatter after getting his head chopped off as his weight increased to 8 pounds at the time of his death from 2.5 pounds when he was first attacked by Olsen.
People of Colorado celebrate Mike the Headless Chicken Festival every third weekend of May in memory of this headless chicken. In this festival, they enjoy music and food to its fullest.
