The chicken that lived for 18 months without a head

How long can a chicken survive without a head? Well if you ask Fruita residents, its 18 months, and if still alive... Mike the headless chicken would be celebrating 70 years.... headless.
In 1945 Fruita farmer Lloyd Olsen beheaded a chicken, the blade took off the majority of his head, but miraculously the chicken survived for a full 18 months after.
Chickens brains are mostly at the back of their heads, and Olsen’s axe left the majority of it intact.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most remarkable animal survival stories ever, and for Fruita residents it’s a story that proves popular with visitors
“I'd say probably once or twice a month especially around the chicken festival and a lot of people are like headless chicken what does that mean? And you have to tell them and everyone walks away with wide eyes and flabbergasted.”
The town of Fruita holds their Mike the Headless Chicken Festival every year in the middle of may to honor the bird.
A mike the chicken statute stands in front of aspen street coffee along main street, complete without the chickens head .