Herbert Hughs of Sault Ste. Marie cut the head off of a chicken which then lived for seventeen days. It is not entirely uncommon for a chicken to run around once its head has been chopped off. However, this usually lasts for no more than a few minutes.
When Herbert Hughs of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan cut the head off a chicken he was planning to eat for dinner, he was shocked when the chicken began running around his kitchen. What was more, the chicken kept moving for seventeen days after that!
This was a headline story in the Sault Ste. Marie paper, and for two weeks spectators took careful notice of the Black Minorca chicken. Hughs was the owner of the Belvidere Hotel and the brief influx of tourists was no doubt good for business.
Source: “Michigan Historical Calendar”, courtesy of the Clarke Historical Library at Central Michigan University.