It's funny we are discussing chickens that run around with their heads chopped
off. I also grew up on a farm and though you can take the boy out of the farm,
you don't necessarily take the farm out of the boy. I live on an acreage with
my wife and children and this year we raised chickens to show the kids what I use
to do when I grew up on the farm. We butchered about 100 of them this summer and
though several flopped around, none of them acutally ran. Though I have to
admitt that the strain of the chicken will make a difference. When I was a kid,
there were a few occasions that some chickens travled up to about 10-12 feet with
ther heads chopped off. However, they were not in an upright position as they
flopped around, though mostly propelled by leg movement.
For what its worth.
Steven L. Voss
Psychology
Oak Hills Christian College
Bemidji, MN
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bob Keefer wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Aug 1999, Jeff Ricker wrote:
>
> > "Have you ever heard the expression 'running around like a chicken with its
> > head cut off'? A rather gruesome image, but a chicken with its head cut off
> > _can_ run around...for a little while. Naturally, it does not run toward
> > anything or away from anything; it just runs. Nevertheless, it maintains
> > its balance even while running on bumpy ground or up or down a slope.
> > In short, the spinal cord can control walking and running." (p. 285)
>
> Ya know, growing up on an actual farm, I had often heard the expression
> "running around like a chicken with its head cut off," but I never took
> it to mean actual -running-, as none of the dozens (hundreds?) of
> chickens I personally chopped the heads off of -ever- ran around. Oh,
> they -all- would flop around, or at least twitch, and some would even
> move a few feet or even sort of 'hop' if one of their spasming legs
> happened to fall underneath them, but I never saw one run. I'm skeptical
> that a headless chicken could run on bumpy ground or up/down a slope, as
> the balance mechanism is no longer attached to the chick, AFAIK.
>
> Has anyone actually seen a headless chicken (not just a few of those
> coincidental hops I mentioned)?
>
> bob k.
>
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> Robert Keefer Associate Professor
> Psychology Department Office Phone:
> Mt. St. Mary's College (301) 447-5394, Ext. 4251
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