
"Mike, Mike, where's your head? Even without it, you're not dead!" --Schoolyard rhyme from the 1940's inspired by Mike the Headless Chicken.
On a cold night in the fall of 1945, Lloyd Olsen, a farmer from Fruita, Colorado headed out to the shed for the first step in preparing a delicious chicken dinner - chopping the head off of Mike the Chicken. A lifelong farmer, Olsen was a seasoned pro but this time he cut it a little too close. While the chicken most certainly lost his head, a tiny portion of his brain stem was left intact in the base of his neck. To Farmer Olsen's amazement, the chicken was still very much alive and he did not have the heart to finish the job. When Olsen found the bird alive in the morning, the legend of Mike the Headless Chicken was born.
Mike the Headless Chicken lived for a full 18 months without his head, able to "eat" food through the hole in his neck. He had impeccable balance and could even fly, but his rooster crow was more of a gurgle than a cock-a-doodle doo.
Oh no, not creamed corn again!
Mike went on tour across the country as a side-show act and was examined at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City and confirmed to be legitimate.
The headless bird finally died in March of 1947 when he choked late one winter evening. We suspect that farmer Olsen got drunk and shared a flask of whiskey with Mike to celebrate their new-found wealth.
A proud father...
Official Mike the Headless Chicken Site
Zooillogix
Don't Stick Your Fingers in the Cage
Video of the Week
Training a Cheetah to Be Fast
Bleiman Brothers Profile

In the wild, Andrew feeds on fish, sponges, small crustaceans, nematode worms and protozoans.

Benny's diet is very specialized, consisting mainly of the interior of Ramy nuts, nectar from the Traveller's Palm tree, some fungi and insect grubs. He is also known to raid coconut plantations, and has been seen eating lychees and mangoes, which are also plantation crops.
Search
Recent Posts
- Pygmy Jerboa
- Squids May See with Organ as Well as Eyes
- How to Kill Fire Ants: Step 1, Zombifiy. Step 2, Explode Heads.
- Monkey Juice
- Squirrels + Excitable UCLA Film Students
- FYI
- Training Circus Lobster
- Kate Discovers that Dancing Can Cause Volvox
- Zombie Spiders Return from the Dead to Haunt Your Dreams
- Robotic Autonomous Flying Penguins. Festo = Skynet
Recent Comments
- sam on Colorful and Bizarre New Fish Discovered - Looks Delicious Scientists Say
- Film İzle on Raccoon Dog
- Film İzle on Monstrous Chinook Salmon Found in California
- Film İzle on Filthy, Flying, Chinese Street Cats!
- webmaster on African Frogs Break Own Bones to Form Claws
- webmaster on Squids May See with Organ as Well as Eyes
- wlid tolba on Kingdom, Phylum, Class… Meet Giant Reptilian Worm Monster
- xhamster on FYI
- dereici on Hookworms Are Nature's Claritin
- he on Rare Pygmy Right Whale Dissected
Archives
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
Donate!
Blogroll
Look How Important We Are
View blog authority
Read the super-informative Interview with the Bleiman Brothers
World's Largest Zoo and Shot Glass Collection
Now accepting donations in exchange for recognition and fame on Zooillogix!
Currently Featured: Seattle Aquarium from Jason Brunet of JeffTheFish.com - the official website of baby rats!
The List:
Adventure Aquarium
Aquarium of the Bay
Baton Rouge Zoo
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Bronx Zoo
Brookfield Zoo
Cincinnati Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Florida Aquarium
Georgia Aquarium
Knoxville Zoo
Lincoln Park Zoo
Los Angeles Zoo
Maritime Center in Norwalk, CT
Milwaukee Zoo
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Mystic Aquarium
New England Aquarium
New York Aquarium
Newport Aquarium
North Carolina Aquarium
North Carolina Zoological Society
Philadelphia Zoo
Pittsburgh Zoo
Rio Grande Zoo
Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies
San Antonio Zoo
San Diego Zoo
San Francisco Zoo
Santa Barbara Zoo
Sea World San Diego
Seattle Aquarium
Shedd Aquarium
Smithsonian National Zoo
South Carolina Aquarium
Tennessee Aquarium
Vancouver Aquarium
Feed me Seymour!
« Baby Aardvark | Main | Jellyfish: The Revenge »
The True Story of Mike the Headless Chicken
Category: mike the headless chicken
Posted on: March 19, 2007 10:45 PM, by ableiman
TrackBacks
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/48352
Comments
Great story...and isn't there a hip-hop song about this?
Posted by: Curt | March 22, 2007 2:57 PM
One of the most weird things that I have ever seen!
Posted by: Enzo... | March 22, 2007 7:01 PM
This was a great story and very amazing how that rooster lived for 18 months. He could have lived longer if he didn't choke, kinda sad.
Posted by: Natalie | August 24, 2008 2:46 PM
how that rooster lived for 18 months. He could have lived longer if he didn't
Posted by: mirc | May 1, 2009 12:58 PM
weird things that I have ever seen!
Posted by: cinsel chat | May 1, 2009 1:02 PM