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Mike the Headless Chicken lived for 18 months after a Colorado farmer cut off his head for dinner in 1945. The bird got up and walked away, was fed through a dropper and was taken on tour across the United States.

Fruita, Colorado, 1945

NatureScience

The story behind the card

The farmer, Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, swung the axe at a five-and-a-half-month-old Wyandotte cockerel. The blade removed most of the head but missed the jugular vein, and a blood clot stopped him bleeding to death. Most of the brain stem, which controls breathing, heartbeat and many reflexes, was left intact, along with one ear. Olsen fed him milk and water with an eyedropper, and crowds paid to see him on tour. In March 1947 Mike choked during the night in a motel in Phoenix, Arizona; the Olsens had left behind the syringe they used to clear his airway and could not save him. Fruita still holds a yearly festival in his honour.

Türkçe oku
Kafasız Tavuk Mike, Coloradolu bir çiftçi 1945'te akşam yemeği için kafasını kestikten sonra 18 ay daha yaşadı. Kuş ayağa kalkıp yürüdü; damlalıkla beslendi ve ABD'yi dolaşan gösterilere çıkarıldı.
Fruita, Colorado, 1945

Fruitalı çiftçi Lloyd Olsen, baltayı beş buçuk aylık bir Wyandotte horozuna indirdi. Balta başın büyük kısmını kopardı ama şah damarını ıskaladı; bir kan pıhtısı da kan kaybından ölmesini önledi. Solunumu, kalp atışını ve pek çok refleksi yöneten beyin sapının büyük bölümü ile bir kulağı yerinde kaldı. Olsen onu damlalıkla süt ve suyla besledi; turnedeki gösterilerde insanlar onu görmek için para ödedi. Mart 1947'de Arizona'nın Phoenix kentindeki bir motelde Mike gece boğulmaya başladı. Olsenler, hava yolunu temizlemekte kullandıkları şırıngayı bir önceki gösteride unutmuştu ve onu kurtaramadılar. Fruita bugün hâlâ her yıl onun adına bir festival düzenliyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Mike the Headless Chicken
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