FROM THE BARRELHOUSE

‘Miracle Mike’ with stand-in rooster head, 1945. Mike toured sideshows for 18 months after surviving a decapitation. Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

I’ve been getting a bit high-brow at The Barrelhouse lately, so here’s a story about a chicken with no head. As LIFE Magazine explained it, in 1945 Mrs. L.A. Olson, wife of a Colorado farmer, “decided to have chicken for dinner. Mrs. Olson took Mike to the chopping block and axed off his head”. The axe failed to cleanly clip the brain, instead creating a super-bird that refused to die.

Miracle Mike’s plight lead him out of the barnyard and into the limelight; for the next year and a half he starred in sideshows, acquired a promoter, appeared in LIFE Magazine, accrued a closet of stand-in rooster heads and was waited on feather and claw with suitcase and drop-feeder. True to rock star status he finally died in a motel somewhere in the Arizona desert.

Not for the fainthearted.

Mike the headless chicken on top of the world, and also a lawn mower. Fruita, Colorado, 1945. Image by Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

“Mike the headless chicken in his Colorado barnyard, with fellow chickens” LIFE Magazine 1945. To dispel theories that Mike was a hoax he was taken by his owner to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish his authenticity. Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

The suitcase used to nurture Mike. Includes an eye dropper for delivering sustenance through the hole where his head used to be. Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
 

Mike resting at home, 1945. Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

Promoter Hope Wade with money-making Mike. Fruita, Colorado, 1945. Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

Mike’s genuine head was reportedly eaten by the cat. He gathered stand-ins on the road. Image by Bob Landry, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.

October 22, 1945 Issue of LIFE Magazine.

For the dirt on Mike’s legacy – including an annual Mike the Headless Chicken Festival in Colorado and Fan Club – take a look at his dedicated website.