Mike the Headless Chicken

I want you to imagine this. It’s 1 am, you are fast asleep, then suddenly there’s a loud crash in your kitchen. Petrified, but curious, you tiptoe down the winding stairs. Beads of sweat start running down your cheek and your knees are knocking against each other. Your breathing gets faster and faster and your teeth chatter as you get closer to the kitchen. Before you know it, you have reached it. As your heart beats faster than ever before, you poke your head around the corner of the kitchen. To your shock, you find something you never imagined would be possible. A Chicken, but without a head, standing amidst fragments of shattered plates and bowls. Pretty crazy right? Well, this could happen to you one day, let me explain.

This isn’t a scene from a nightmare; it’s a true story about Mike, the headless chicken. Mike was a male Wyandotte chicken that lived for a whopping 18 months without a head. Now, you're probably asking yourself “How is that possible!?”. Let me explain. Scientists believe that Mike survived for so long because when his head was cut off by an axe, most of his brainstem that controls breathing, digestion and other bodily functions remained intact. After all, a chicken's brain is located at the back of the head, behind the eyes. He did not bleed to death either due to a blood clot. After seeing that Mike survived, his owner, Olsen, decided to care for the bird. He fed it a mixture of milk and water using an eyedropper and gave it small grains of corn and worms. Yet, this remarkable tale raises ethical questions. While Mike's story is interesting, it also makes us consider whether it was right to keep him alive in such a condition. Was it an act of cruelty or a remarkable experiment in survival? So with all of this in mind, it begs the question, should the owner have even kept it alive? 

In conclusion, Mike the Headless Chicken is a truly fascinating animal that offers us valuable lessons, both scientifically and ethically. While people may have varying opinions about Mike, one thing is certain: he will not be forgotten. This brings us to an interesting thought: the next time you’re lying in bed and hear a crash or a bang, it might not be a headless chicken after all—it could be a goblin or a griffin! So, as you drift off to sleep, keep your imagination open and your senses alert; you never know what surprises might be lurking in the shadows!