The headless rooster lived for a year. Headless rooster. He turned out to be alive
On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen from Fruita, Colorado, USA, went to the yard (at the request of his wife) to choose a chicken for dinner.
Olsen chose a 5.5-month-old chicken named Mike. The ax missed the jugular vein on impact, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.
After the decapitation, Mike did not move for some time, but then got up and walked as if nothing had happened.
Mike's head was almost completely severed, but the first night after beheading Mike slept on a perch, hiding his neck under his wing.
Mike was able to balance on the perch and walk awkwardly; he even tried to preen his feathers and crow, although he was unable to do either.
After the bird did not die, a surprised Olsen decided to continue caring for Mike, constantly feeding him a mixture of milk and water using a dropper and feeding him small kernels of corn. The entrance to Mike's esophagus sometimes became clogged with mucus, and Olsen used a special syringe to clear it.
Despite his new unusual center of gravity, Mike could easily stay on the high perch without falling. His scream, however, was less impressive and consisted only of a gurgling sound in his throat. Mike also tried to clean himself and peck food.
In addition, Mike's weight continued to increase: Olsen said that at the time of decapitation Mike weighed about 2.5 pounds, while at the time of his death he weighed almost 8 pounds.
GLORY has come to the rooster!
As soon as word spread about him, Mike began a "career" as a touring attraction in the company of other similar creatures, such as a two-headed calf.
He was also photographed by reporters from dozens of magazines and newspapers, including Time and Life magazines.
Mike was exhibited to the public for a fee of twenty-five cents. At the peak of its popularity, the chicken brought in $4,500 a month ($48,000 in 2010 prices) and was valued at $10,000.
A pickled chicken head was often displayed next to Mike, pretending to be his head, but in reality his head was eaten by a cat.
Olsen's success led to a wave of chicken beheadings in hopes of repeating the act, but no other beheaded chickens survived more than a day or two.
In March 1947, in one of the Phoenix motels where the Olsen family stayed on the way home, Mike began to choke in the dead of night.
According to one version, the Olsens had forgotten food and syringes for cleaning the esophagus in the room where the show was held the day before, so they were unable to save Mike.
Lloyd Olsen himself claimed that he sold the bird, and as a result stories about Mike continued to circulate throughout the country until late 1949.
Other sources claimed that the chicken's trachea ruptured, leaving it unable to breathe and suffocated.
What does official medicine tell us?
It was determined that the ax did not hit the carotid artery, so Mike did not die from bleeding.
Although part of his head was severed, most of his brain stem and one ear remained on his body.
Since basic functions (breathing, pulse, etc.), as well as most reflex actions, are controlled by the brain stem, Mike remained alive.
This case is a clear example of the fact that many functions of the nervous system can be performed in the absence of the cerebral cortex.
“A headless rooster lives on after being hit with an ax.” This is exactly what the headline in LIFE magazine of October 22, 1945 was about an article about... a headless rooster, of course.
“Since September 10,” the magazine informed its readers, “Mike the Wyandotte rooster has been living without a head. Mike lost his head in the traditional way for chickens - Mrs. Olson, the wife of a farmer from Fruita, Colorado, decided to cook dinner and cut off Mike's head. Mike stood up and started walking around as if nothing had happened. Mrs. Olson had most of her skull chopped off, but one ear, the jugular vein and the lower part of the brain that controls motor functions were spared.”
Look at the photo and decide for yourself whether to believe it or not.
1. Mike the Headless Rooster, October 1945. On the day of his “execution,” Mike slept with his head under his wing. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
4. Mike on a farm in Colorado. “Miracle Mike,” as some newspapers dubbed him, lived without his head for 18 months. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
5. A suitcase with feeding supplies, including a pipette with which food is placed into the esophagus. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
6. Feeding Mike. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
7. Hope Wade is a promoter who took Mike around the country and made money from it. Colorado, 1945. (Bob Landry-Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)
To be honest, when I first heard the story that a rooster was able to live without a head for a year and a half, I decided that it was a journalistic canard. Judge for yourself: the head is not some kind of wing, paw or beak. There is the brain, which is responsible for literally everything in an animal!..
Nevertheless, this incident occurred in the 1940s - during the era of photography, and therefore a lot of visual evidence of the phenomenon has been preserved. In addition, the bird’s headlessness was certified by scientists and the Guinness Book of Records, and in Mike’s cockerel’s hometown he is still revered as a national hero.
How Mike lost his head
Until September 10, 1945, the cockerel was a completely ordinary bird - it lived on one of the farms in the city of Fruita, Colorado, US, among dozens of its fellows. He didn’t even have a name then: he was called Mike much later, when his supernatural desire to survive was discovered. In general, this autumn day was supposed to be the last for our hero, since the owner of the farm, Clara Olsen, decided to cook chicken for dinner on the occasion of the arrival visiting her mother.
Clara's husband, Lloyd Olsen, took an ax, went to the chicken coop, caught a five and a half month old bird, laid it on the block and with one blow cut off the cockerel's head. The fact that he jumped up and ran with his head cut off did not really surprise Lloyd - I think many people have heard that headless chickens can move for about five minutes.
But something else struck the farmer: when he caught up with his victim, it turned out that he was walking among the other inhabitants of the poultry yard as if nothing had happened. The headless cockerel still did not die, and Lloyd Olsen decided to leave him alone and caught another bird for the table. And when the farmer entered the chicken coop in the morning, the headless rooster was sleeping peacefully on the perch, having tucked the bloody stump of his neck under his wing.
His mother-in-law saved him
Interested in the unusual case, Lloyd Olsen decided to help the bird survive. He came up with a way to feed her: he used a pipette to send grains and water directly into the esophagus. Sometimes the cockerel began to choke - mucus accumulated in his throat, and then the farmer had to pump it out with a syringe. Days passed, but the cockerel lived.
When a week had passed since the beheading, Lloyd decided to show this phenomenon to scientists and went to the University of Salt Lake City, located in Utah, 250 miles from Fruita. At first, scientists were stumped - not a single animal can live without a brain! But then, after doing a full examination of the cockerel, we figured out what was going on. It turns out that Mike’s life was saved by... Lloyd’s mother-in-law!
The fact is that the woman was very fond of chicken necks, and therefore, when cutting off the rooster’s head, Lloyd tried to preserve this part of the body as much as possible. That is why the ax blade passed without hitting the jugular vein, and the blood clotted, preventing Mike from dying from its loss. The spinal cord, which is responsible for most reflexes in birds, was also practically undamaged. In addition, the cockerel had one auditory opening left, so he retained the ability to hear. Perhaps the only thing Mike lost when he lost his head was his eyesight and the ability to taste food. Otherwise, the cockerel, so to speak, was quite healthy.
Life after death
The rumor about Mike's fantastic vitality quickly spread throughout the States. The most popular American media colorfully talked about him, giving the cockerel the nickname “The Amazing Headless Chicken.” And, of course, soon enterprising people appeared on Olsen’s farm, who explained to Lloyd that he had a gold mine in his hands, and offered a lucrative contract. The farmer did not miss his luck and, taking his “golden cockerel”, went on a tour of America along with other unusual animals.
For example, a two-headed calf traveled as part of the “delegation”. New York, Atlantic City, Los Angeles, San Diego - everywhere Mike was greeted by enthusiastic fans and gladly parted with 25 cents for the opportunity to look at the headless rooster. At the peak of its popularity, this bird brought Lloyd a solid income - four and a half thousand dollars a month (at the 2010 exchange rate - $48 thousand), so the farmer even had to insure Mike.
Insurers estimated this phenomenon at 10 thousand dollars. His severed head also traveled with the cockerel: Lloyd carried it preserved in alcohol in a jar and showed it to everyone. Although there were rumors that the farmer cut off this head from another rooster, and the real one was eaten by a cat shortly after the beheading. After all, no one knew then what kind of nugget the headless bird would turn out to be.
Death and immortality
Mike lived without a head for 18 months, turning from a young rooster weighing a little over a kilogram into a real seasoned rooster weighing about two and a half kilograms. And it is unknown how much longer this miracle of nature would have been running around the earth if the tragedy had not happened in March 1947. Once while traveling, Lloyd Olsen stopped at a hotel in Phoenix (Arizona), and there in the middle of the night Mike had an attack of suffocation. And Lloyd, as luck would have it, didn’t have a syringe on hand to clear the cockerel’s throat, and he suffocated.
This is how the famous “The Amazing Headless Chicken” died. But the fame of the wonderful Mike is still alive today. “He was a big fat cockerel who didn’t even seem to realize he didn’t have a head. “Mike seemed as happy as any other chicken,” remember Fruita residents who were lucky enough to see the wonderful bird.
Now in this city there is a monument to the headless cockerel, and since May 1999, the “Mike the Headless Chicken” festival has been held in Fruita. The festival program includes concerts, a running competition called “Run Like a Headless Chicken,” a car show, and throwing eggs at a distance. Visitors are also offered a varied menu of chicken dishes.
With an ax - for glory
Many in Fruita, jealous of farmer Lloyd Olsen's success, tried to replicate his successful ax blow. And quite a few chicken heads fell off due to the hope of their owners that one of the birds would be able to repeat Mike’s fate. But, alas, these heads fell completely in vain, since most of the chickens died soon after beheading, and only a few managed to live for a couple of days.
Every farmer who has slaughtered or observed the slaughter of poultry knows that headless chickens run around for up to 10 minutes. They need to be held tightly when slaughtering. Otherwise, they can break free and run away from the place of execution, flapping their wings.
The decapitated bird runs and twitches reflexively, its muscles obeying the last commands emanating from the spinal cord. It may take up to ten minutes for this process to stop completely.
Important. When slaughtering a bird, you need to hold the convulsing body not only until the moment of killing, but also after. Otherwise, everything around will be flooded with blood from the severed cervical artery, and the site of the impact will be dirty, which gives soil microbes access to the meat.
But there was only one case in history when the blow of an ax came high and was so successful that it did not hit the vital centers of the brain, allowing the chicken to subsist on its remains. The headless chicken lived for almost a year and a half.
Why can a chicken run without a head?
Popular fantasy explains why a chicken runs around without a head from the perspective of superstition. But this fact has a purely scientific basis.
- Birds descended directly from dinosaurs and became a separate class 130 million years ago. Their internal structure is more archaic than that of mammals.
- The spinal cord in birds developed earlier than the brain. In primitive forms of life, it was responsible for all body functions.
- When the brain developed, it took over some of the functions of its predecessor. In modern birds and mammals, it is the brain that is responsible for coordinating movements, but not completely.
If the brain is damaged or separated from the body, the spinal cord may briefly take over control of the body. A headless chicken can run because most of these birds' reflex actions are not controlled by the brain.
Interesting. Medieval legends tell of repeated cases of people walking around without heads. The most famous is Saint Dionysius.
After the saint was executed in Montparnasse, he took his head under his arm and walked all the way to Saint Denis, walking 6 km.
The Amazing Story of Mike the Rooster
This story, which shocked all of America, took place on September 10, 1945 in the provincial town of Fruita, Colorado.
The Olsen family's mother-in-law came to visit. It was planned to serve chicken at the festive table. The head of the family, whose name was Lloyd, went with an ax to the chicken coop. His choice fell on a well-fed white cockerel, five and a half months old. The mother-in-law loved chicken necks, so the loving son-in-law tried to use an ax to chop off the head as high as possible. Upon impact, only part of the head was separated from the body. The jugular vein was not affected.
The blood on the wound coagulated into a blood clot, which blocked large blood vessels and prevented the bird from dying from blood loss. Vital centers of the brain also survived. The chicken even had one ear left.
Mike's life after the beheading
Less than half an hour after the beheading, the chicken recovered enough that it began to move, stood up on its own and went about its business. His behavior was not much different from usual. Lloyd decided not to finish off the chicken. And when he discovered that he had spent the night on the roost, he decided to save his life. And he even called him Mike.
Mike could not eat or drink on his own. The owner fed him by hand, carefully injecting water and grain with a pipette directly into the opening of the esophagus. It periodically became clogged with mucus, and I had to carefully clean it with a syringe.
With this exception, Mike tried to lead a normal rooster life. He walked, slept on the perch, tried to clean his feathers and peck. He even crowed, although his singing sounded like a guttural gurgle.
Fame
The accuracy of this story is documented at the University of Salt Lake City, Utah. Lloyd took the overly tenacious bird there a week after the incident. A few days later, newspapermen picked up the story, and all of America learned about the amazing headless chicken. Not only the yellow pages and tabloids wrote about the headless chicken, but Time and Life.
The Olsens managed to benefit from the fame that fell on them. Lloyd exhibited Mike as a touring attraction. By paying 25 cents for entry, anyone could look at the wonder. Together with Mike, the farmer showed a pickled chicken head, supposedly severed. Mike brought the owners up to $4,500 a month, and was valued at 10 thousand.
Known and cared for, this amazing chicken lived for 18 months. He grew up and gained almost 2.5 kg. At the time of death, the unusual rooster weighed almost 4 kg.
Important. People, inspired by Olsen's example, tried to decapitate a chicken so that it would exist without a head.
But all attempts were in vain. Cutting off the head led to the death of the bird.
Death
In March 1947, the show toured America. Olsen and Mike stayed at a motel. At night the chicken began to choke. But the farmer forgot a cleaning syringe in the pavilion where the show was taking place and did not save his pet.
The Amazing Chicken has become Fruita's unofficial symbol. In 1999, Colorado residents established “Mike the Headless Chicken Day.” Every year, the third weekend of May is dedicated to games and competitions in his honor.
An ordinary rooster named Mike became famous throughout America in the 1940s. The bird, whose head was almost completely cut off, lived in this state for 1.5 years!
He turned out to be alive!
On a September day in 1945, Colorado resident Lloyd Olsen went to the chicken coop with an ax at the ready to kill some bird and cook it for dinner. His choice fell on a young Wyandotte rooster named Mike. Olsen swung his ax and the bird's head fell to the ground. Lloyd was an experienced farmer, and therefore he was not at all surprised when the headless Mike suddenly rose to his paws. It is a fairly common occurrence for domestic chickens, deprived of their heads, to show signs of life within a few minutes. The American decided to leave the rooster alone until he died.
However, even the next day Mike was still alive. He moved, trying to do what ordinary birds do every day: preen their feathers, peck food, or crow. Of course, none of the above worked for Mike. But nonetheless.
Professors' conclusion
Lloyd Olsen was still waiting for the rooster to give up the ghost. But Mike didn't give up. Then Olsen began to feed the rooster. He injected water directly into the bird's open esophagus using a pipette, and simply pushed small grains through. Using a syringe, the farmer pumped out mucus from Mike's respiratory tract to prevent him from suffocating. As for the chicken, it lived its normal life. The other chickens did not shy away from him and, at the sight of their headless brother, behaved as if nothing had happened.
A few weeks later, Olsen finally realized that he was dealing with a very unusual phenomenon, and, taking a rooster, he went to one of the American universities. The professors, of course, were amazed at the survivability of the bird, but after examining it, they explained everything. The fact is that, by chance, Lloyd cut off Mike's head so carefully that the brain stem was intact. Thanks to this, vital functions, such as breathing and pulse, were preserved. The carotid artery was not damaged either, so the rooster did not die from blood loss. In addition, one ear survived.
Death on Tour
The farmer, who had already become skilled in caring for his headless pet, decided that he could make some good money from it. Olsen began traveling to fairs and exhibiting Mike to the public for a certain fee. The rooster became a local celebrity. Everyone was in a hurry to see the miracle with their own eyes. Photos of the bird regularly appeared in the press. The owner was offered 10 thousand dollars for Mike. But he was not going to part with his pet, which in just two months of touring brought him a similar income.