This year, the Mike the Headless Chicken Festival was scheduled to take place on May 29-30. [2], In March 1947, at a motel in Phoenix on a stopover while traveling back from tour, Mike started choking in the middle of the night. He had managed to get a kernel of corn in his throat. Here’s what I found — with the story from the 23 April 2000 issue of This is True: The town of Fruita, Colo., wanted something a little less boring than the usual “pioneers” to focus on for Colorado Heritage Week, so the city revived the story of Mike the Headless Chicken. [9], Mike the Headless Chicken is now a cultural institution in Fruita, Colorado, with an annual "Mike the Headless Chicken Day", the third weekend of May, starting in 1999. After the loss of his head, Mike achieved national fame until his death in March 1947. In the 1940s, a chicken lived for two years without his head. Mike, the Headless Chicken lived for 18 Months The story goes back to September 10, 1945, in Fruita, Colorado, USA, when a farmer named Lloyd Olsen tried to cut down a five and half months old cockerel named Mike for their supper. On Monday, the House Judiciary Committee sent out at least 81 of them. [7] In addition, birds possess a secondary balance organ in the pelvic region, the lumbosacral organ, which controls walking locomotion virtually independently from the vestibular organ involved in flight. No ads, no fluff, and (as always!) Mike the Headless Chicken is one of the freakiest animals that has ever lived. After the loss of his head, Mike achieved national fame until his death in March 1947. — [6], It was determined that the axe had missed the jugular vein[7] and a clot had prevented Mike from bleeding to death. Headless Mike was even brought to the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, to prove that Headless Mike is the real thing. Even a couple of bucks will help. and Mikes head was gone, at least most of it. I wouldn’t say they made “nothing,” even though someone in the video did. Olsen and family wanted a chicken dinner one evening, so someone in the household — it’s unclear who — went back to the coop, axe in hand, to find and slaughter one. Mike the Headless Chicken – Source: miketheheadlesschicken.org. [2] When Mike did not die, Olsen instead decided to care for the bird. His girlfriend told him to give it up. The story of Mike the Headless Chicken began on September 10, 1945. “Leave the chicken alone; it’s dead,” Denise Safford says she told him. © Copyright 1994–2021 ThisIsTrue.Inc, All Rights Reserved worldwide. Perhaps there’s something in the water in Western Colorado? Collbran, Colorado, is just 50 miles from Fruita. I was trolling around Youtube and found this clip of a PBS documentary that interviews some old-timers who remember Mike, as well as family members, and has some old family photographs and such. I’m sure he was delicious. “I’ve kissed worse.” (Grand Junction Sentinel) …Let’s just hope he doesn’t mean Denise. Get an automated notice whenever there’s a new post to this blog (such as the page you’re on), including new podcast episodes — just a quick note to say what’s new, with a link. I had to read three stories about Fruita before I finally twigged that it is *not* in Florida! The official Mike the headless chicken book: A 1940's tale of two men and a chicken : the meteoric rise and eventual demise of a headless fowl from … Mike was a Wyandotte chicken who survived for 18 months after his head had been mostly cut off by farmer Lloyd Olsen as he was slaughtering him for dinner. Of a chicken without a head, Mike achieved national fame until his death March... 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