Over the past two weeks, two five-legged mutants were born in Australia at once. Lamb and calf.
A lamb from Takhmur, born at the end of July, has 4 normal legs and a spare on its back. Lamb owner, farmer Neil Volk, says he noticed the anomaly when he saw a strangely running lamb among the herd. According to him, it is only the second time in his life that he sees such a thing, and the first time it was at a local fair, where they showed a similar freak.
The lamb looks healthy and it is not visible that the fifth limb bothers him somehow. A veterinarian at the University of Sydney says such abnormalities are extremely rare and could have caused a variety of things, from toxic substances to genetic malfunction. Or maybe it's about animal feed.
Farmer Volk says that if the lamb was clearly sick, he would put him to sleep, but since the animal enjoys life and does not differ in behavior from the druses of lambs, he will leave him to live.
On August 14, 2009, the Miracle Calf appeared the other day on one of the farms in the Australian town of Kurlevis. The playful, affectionate, active newborn immediately fell in love with the owners, despite his rather extraordinary appearance. The kid differs from his counterparts in the number of legs, and he has as many as five of them.
According to veterinarian Shani Lyons, who was calving, his "goddaughter", and it was the heifer who was born, stands firmly on four hooves, and the fifth, fully formed leg, due to genetic mutations, has grown between the shoulder blades. “In my 20 years of practice, I have not seen anything like it,” Lyons said. “Much more often kids with two heads or lambs with four eyes are born, but cases with 'additional' limbs are extremely rare.”
“After the examination, I can say with confidence that the heifer, despite the anomaly, is absolutely healthy,” the veterinarian noted. "Moreover, I believe that the operation to remove the extra leg will be quite simple."
The owner of the mutant heifer Bellarin Grazier himself has already given his consent to return the new member of the cow herd to its natural appearance, and next week the baby will not attract the amazed glances of others.
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