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Quick & curious · Nature

A chicken lived for 18 months without a head.

In 1945 the axe missed most of the brain stem of a rooster called Mike. Mike kept walking, was fed by eyedropper and went on tour.

A silver-laced Wyandotte rooster on a lawn
Photo: ripperda · CC BY 2.0 · Original

18monthsMike lived without a head

The story behind it

A chicken lived for 18 months without a head.

On 10 September 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen in Fruita, Colorado, set out to slaughter the rooster Mike. The axe missed the jugular vein, and one ear and most of the brain stem stayed on. The brain stem controls breathing and heartbeat, and a blood clot stopped the bleeding.

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