Mike (cock)

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Mike the Rooster

Mike , in English also Mike the Headless Chicken or Miracle Mike (* April 1945 - † March 1947 ), was the name of a rooster that lived on for 18 months after its head was almost completely chopped off. After the story was published, doubts arose about her. However, the University of Utah confirmed the authenticity of the case.

decapitation

On Monday, September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita , Colorado beheaded the five and a half month old rooster as he was expecting his mother-in-law to eat on the weekend. Because the ax used was too small, he missed the carotid artery . One ear and most of the brain stem also remained intact, so Mike did not die. The rooster spent the first night after the beheading with its neck under its wing. Olsen then decided to spare Mike. In order to clarify the condition of the animal, he brought the rooster to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, about 400 km away, a week later . The students and professors examined the animal and were able to explain why Mike was still alive. Since the brain stem, which controls the vital functions of the organism, was still functioning, the rooster could still walk unsteadily and stay on a perch. He also tried to groom himself and to crow, although no sound came out of him. Olsen fed him a mixture of milk and water, which he dripped directly into the esophagus with a pipette . When the rooster threatened to choke on its own phlegm, the Olsens cleaned the throat with a small syringe. In the year and a half that he lived without a head, he gained over a kilogram. At last the rooster weighed almost four kilograms.

Fame

After the news got around, Mike was featured as a circus attraction along with other curios such as a two-headed calf. He has been photographed for dozens of magazines and newspapers. Mike could be viewed for 25 cents. At peak times, the Olsens earned US $ 4,500 a month ($ 50,000 today) with the animal. Its value was estimated at $ 10,000. The surprising success led quite a number of farmers to decapitate their roosters in a similar way to create an equal attraction. However, none of the animals survived longer than a day or two.

death

In March 1947, Mike started in the middle of the night in a motel in Phoenix suddenly choking. On the way home after a tour, the Olsens had forgotten to remove the mucus from Mike's throat, so that the rooster suffocated.

The rooster was examined after he died and it was found that the ax had missed the carotid artery and that a blood clot had prevented it from bleeding to death .

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