What Happened To Mike The Headless Chicken?

It might seem hard to believe, but did you know that there was a chicken who survived for a
number of years without having a head? It seems far fetched, but it’s true. Well, Mike the
Headless Chicken was born on April 20, 1945 in Fruita, a city in Colorado, and he originally had a
head; however, when his owners were planning to have Mike sold at the Market in September of
1945, Farmer Lloyd Olsen aimed to behead Mike the Chicken with the swing of an axe but what
happened next has had scientists puzzled for decades to come.

Let’s begin with a bit of context as to what usually happens when a chicken’s head is cut off.
According to Dr. Wayne J. Kuenzel, a poultry physiologist and biologist at the University of Arkansas
- the way that a chicken’s skull is composed leaves two large openings where the eyes are placed
and the brain is tucked away in a slightly different portion of the skull. Needless to say, even if the
brain is removed, there’s a high chance that the brain stem and the cerebellum will remain intact.
Removing the chickens head instantly starves the brain from receiving Oxygen, and without having a
functioning brain that will send signals to the rest of the body and organs; however, there is still
some remaining oxygen within the body, mainly the spinal cord - which is why chickens can usually
live for around 15 minutes without a head before the body and organs no longer have access to
oxygen. So why did Mike live for nearly 18 months without a head?

[theultimatehoomanperson]

I don't think he lived a comfortable life at all.

[john]

The weirdest part of this is the owner lying about Mike’s death… as if that would surprise anyone.

[GhostIy_Games]

Mike: Sadly i did not survive

Also Mike: But I lived!

[adamsherman]

I can only pray that the chicken wasn't sentient. I can't imagine a worse hell.

[henzen]

When I was a kid on a farm in the late 50's, it used to blow my mind seeing chickens run around with no head.

[suhankumarchoudhury]

I won't have my worst enemy live such a dreadful life.

[pinkipandit]

Hearing the fact that people would CELEBRATE mikes death by having a wing eating competition which eventually kill few hundred more chickens ...
MR INCREDIBLE BECOMES UNCANNY

[Heffey]

So if this is true, somebody tried to murder a chicken unsuccessfully, then tried to keep it alive in it’s horrific condition to make money off of it. Then lied about its death months later after unsurprisingly failing to keep it alive, so that years later people will eventually come to honor said chicken by building statues and competing to see who can eat more dead chickens…Humans are messed up.

[emyywolf]

They make the story sound like . Mike got half his head and face chopped off, he went like “Ouch!! Wtf!!! No!!!!”, and the next day went right back to “I’m hungry where’s my food”.

[kallistaaldridge]

And they let it live knowing it would be terrified it’s whole life

[deterski]

So he basically cut off the chickens face, lovely

[jamesonpalmos]

The reason why he staded alive he still had part of his brain

[kayakkim]

I think keeping him alive just because you can is awful. Kinda ridiculous & disgusting at the same time

[aezyy]

there are plenty headless chickens around. most of our politicians. sorry, I mean their voters

[HASNPLAYZ]

Who came from Mr Scientific's channel?

[ashadams]

Imagine having a wing eating contest in honour of a chicken that defied death for 18months... O the irony ☠️😂

[I_Murtadha]

The most shocking thing was how was that chicken walking and doing things without brain and eyes!

[ElijahB.]

I actually live in Fruita and this story is 100 percent true. I always run the 5k during the festival.

[__restart__]

He was probably shot by an AK in CS:GO but the game glitched out.

[johnb]

So the guy hacked half the chickens head off, and then just threw him back in the garden and decided to keep him that way for another 18 months whilst cashing in. Eerrrrmmm Animal cruelty You cant just half hack an animals face off and keep throwing food down its bloody next lol no pun intended, thats f'd up evil