"Rectum? Damn near killed 'um!"
Posted on 05/04/2007 5:52:50 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Calf born with 6 legs on Nebraska farm
Fri May 4, 5:42 PM ET
LITCHFIELD, Neb. - A days-old black Angus calf romps about a central Nebraska farm just like any other — only this one romps with six legs. "He's a real freak," said Brian Slocum, who said the calf was born Sunday to one of his cows. "I've never seen anything like this before."
The two extra appendages — one a front leg, the other a back — extend from the calf's pelvic area. The longer of the two extra legs doesn't quite reach the ground, and they don't interfere with the calf's mobility.
The unnamed calf also has organs for both sexes and a surgically supplied rectum.
David Smith, a veterinary specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the calf's twin sexes indicate the embryos for what might have been fraternal twins likely fused during development, producing one calf with extra parts.
Such calves are rare, usually plagued with internal problems and don't live long, cattle experts say.
But so far, Slocum said, the 85-pound calf seems as frisky as the others born on his farm.
"I'm curious to see what happens," he said.
"Rectum? Damn near killed 'um!"
So hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle ...how many moons can she over, eh?
Nevermind branding. Think of the confusion in the breeding barn.
“This thread has legs.”
Good one, sir, but actually deformed farm animals are not a rare occurence, as insinuated by the University of Nebraska veterinarian.
I think what the veterinarian meant to say is, “It’s a rare occurence when they survive past birth.”
Litchfield, Nebraska, is not many miles away from where I spent my most formative years. I do not know the owner of the outfit, but the name rings a bell; one of the first and finest families in central Nebraska.
Looks like the calf is hereford the duration.
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