Chickens can live without a Head If the brain stem is left intact after beheading a chicken, it can continue to live quite in harmony. There is one documented case of a headless chicken, the Miracle Mike, who lived for an impressive 18 months without a head. The famous story was born when a farmer, Lloyd Olsen, missed his axe and the brain stem of Mike was left intact, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact. The Headless Chicken was fed with a mixture of milk and water with an eye dropper.