On September 10th, 1945 a five and a half month old rooster was pecking through the dust of Fruita, Colorado, the unsuspecting bird had never looked so delicious as he did that, now famous, day. The rooster was about to be terminated for dinner that night and once the procedure was completed the chicken staggered around like most freshly terminated poultry.

Afterwards the bird shook off the traumatic event and never looked back, the bird was then called Mike - it is unclear when the famous rooster took on the name and he returned to his job of being a chicken, Mike pecked for food and preened his feathers just like the rest of his barnyard buddies.

He was found the next morning, sleeping with his “head” under his wing. A week into his new life he was taken to University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The skeptical scientists were eager to answer all the questions regarding Mike’s amazing ability to survive with no head. It was determined that ax blade had missed the jugular vein and a clot had prevented Mike from bleeding to death. Although most of his head was in a jar, most of his brain stem and one ear was left on his body. Since most of a chicken’s reflex actions are controlled by the brain stem Mike was able to remain quite healthy. Mike continued to live for a further 18 months and he was known as “The Headless Wonder Chicken” and grew from a mere 2.5 lbs to almost 8 lbs.