Cold War planners wanted to heat atomic mines with chickens

Image: Google Gemini

In the 1950s, British military planners faced a problem: if the Soviets invaded West Germany, how could they slow the advance? Their solution was Blue Peacock, a project to bury ten-kiloton nuclear landmines across the North German Plain, set to detonate by wire, an eight-day timer, or anti-tampering devices that would trigger the bomb if it was moved, tilted, or depressurized.

The mines weighed over seven tons each. They were waterproofed and tested in a flooded gravel pit in Kent. The British Army ordered ten of them in 1957, officially listed as “atomic power units for troops in the field.” But there was a technical problem: buried electronics don’t work well when they freeze.

Engineers considered insulating blankets, but someone had a better idea. What if they sealed live chickens inside the bomb casing with food and water? The birds would survive about a week, and their body heat would keep the components warm enough to function. This was an actual proposal, documented in official files.

When the Blue Peacock files were declassified on April 1, 2004, journalists assumed it was a joke. Tom O’Leary of the National Archives had to clarify: “It does seem like an April Fool but it most certainly is not. The Civil Service does not do jokes.”

The project was canceled in February 1958. Someone finally noticed that irradiating allied territory to stop an invasion might cause political problems. The chickens were spared.