By Chuck Woodbury
I wrote this a few years ago, but I love the story so much I am posting it here again (updated a bit). I hope you enjoy it!
If you don’t have plans for May 31 and June 1, then I suggest you plot a course to Fruita, Colorado. The first weekend in June every year, the people of Fruita, with great appreciation of their history, stage the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival. Now, if you think this is a joke, let me assure you that I am absolutely serious.
Mike, a Wyandotte rooster, was born in Fruita in 1945. Nobody knows the actual date for a simple reason: Who cares when a chicken is born? He was owned by Lloyd and Clara Olsen, who envisioned the bird on their dinner plate one day. So when Mike, who was unnamed at this point, was sufficiently plump, Lloyd grabbed his axe and lopped off the fowl’s head. In most cases, a headless chicken will run in a circle a few times and then drop dead. But Mike just kept going, sort of like the Energizer Bunny except he was a chicken.
History did not record what happened next, but it can be assumed that Lloyd either repeated the process on another fowl, or he and Clara ordered takeout Chinese food.
The next morning, Lloyd found the headless chicken sleeping like a baby, his neck tucked under his wing just like any other chicken, except, of course, other chickens had heads. Lloyd felt sorry for Mike and decided to feed his neck with an eyedropper. A week later Mike was doing fine.
Lloyd was curious how a chicken could live without a head. So he packed up Mike and headed off 250 miles to the University of Utah to consult with scientists.
They had never seen anything like Mike. After careful analysis, they determined that Lloyd’s axe blade had missed Mike’s jugular vein and a clot had prevented the bird from bleeding to death. Although most of Mike’s head was gone, most of his brain stem and one ear remained. Since most of a chicken’s reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem, Mike was able to stay healthy. In his 18-month life he grew to a strapping eight pounds.
NOT ONLY DID MIKE BECOME LARGE, but famous! Life and Time magazines both did stories. Not a stupid man, Lloyd decided to cash in on the publicity. So he and Mike went on tour. Audiences across America paid a quarter to marvel at the bird without a head.
Alas, all good things must end. For Mike and Lloyd, it came in a motel room in the Arizona desert. In the middle of the night, Mike began to choke. Unable to find an eyedropper to clear the bird’s open esophagus, Lloyd watched his famous bird expire.
Nowadays a statue in downtown Fruita honors Mike’s memory. And every spring, the small town near Grand Junction celebrates its famous fowl at the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival. This year’s festival runs May 31 and June 1.
If you’re looking for something unique to do about that time, you might want to wander on over. A good place to stay is in the beautiful campground in Colorado National Monument, an easy drive away.
##RVT1151
This story made my morning, thanks for repeating it Chuck !!
FYI…25 cents in 1945 would be $4.30 today. That’s a lot of money to see a headless chicken!!
Thank you, Chuck! 🙂 I feel very sorry for Mike. I guess I can’t fault his owners for making a few coins on the side by showing him around, but it just all seems very sad. 🙁 Safe travels and beware men wielding axes or hatchets.