Halloween Headless Chicken Costume
Details
My son asked what he should be for Halloween this year, and I rather flippantly suggested a headless chicken with blood spurting out of the stump.
Needless to say he ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS IDEA and I was unable to wriggle out of it, so that was that.
First, I made a neck stump using chicken wire and plaster strips. I also ordered some IV bags, water pistols and a syphon hand pump since I wasn’t sure how this contraption would actually work.
I stripped the water pistol to get the mechanism out and did a quick test with the IV bag — it actually worked splendidly, spurting about five or six feet vertically — so from there I mocked up and 3D printed an enclosure for the pistol mechanism where one hose comes in from the blood bag at the bottom, and then pumps out from the back going up the sleeve to the neck stump. There is a trigger for each hand hidden in each wing.
I then sealed the stump with a glue to make it water proof, printed a hose outlet for the top, and attached the blood bags, hidden inside the top of the stump. With the glue try I started to attach the feathers, repurposing some feather skirts I bought on Amazon. We painted some sponges red and glued them on the top to tidy things up and hide the hoses. I was able to reuse the elastic waistband from one of the skirts to hold the blood bags in place in the stump.
Next I got to work on the wings, cutting a basic pattern in some fabric and repurposing yet more of those feather skirts. I used velcro to fasten the body and wings to hold the tubes in place. I also cut eye holes in the stump and covered them with a white mesh so they were less obvious.
Finally I filled the IV bags with fake blood, which needed to be diluted about 1:3 with water or it was too thick to pump. Then I put on my butcher’s costume — complete with a cleaver — and we were done.
People out trick or treating absolutely loved it, wanting photos with him and raving about his costume, so I think we can say it was a job well done. Next year I will keep my ideas to myself!
