chicken atomic bomb

I learnt this over the weekend.

During the cold war a chicken filled nuclear device was seriously considered in case of Russian invasion of West Germany. The plan was to retreat from Germany, leaving atomic devices under ground for a week and then set them off once everybody was safely out. There were worries that if they left a bomb to go off after they had retreated it would be too cold for the electronics to work. Some bright spark came up with the idea of putting a load of chickens in with the bomb and their body warmth would be enough to keep the electrics working. So they would be sealed in with the bomb along with a weeks worth of food to stop them pecking the electronics. And 7 days later the bomb would be nicely warm thanks to the chickens and whoomp. goodbye Russians. Scary to think that was considered but a clever idea.