Angus calf kicks up its heels — all six of them

updated 4:15 p.m. ET May 4, 2007

LITCHFIELD, Neb. - The newborn black Angus calf romps about the central Nebraska farm just like the other calves.

Only this one has six legs, organs for both sexes and a surgically supplied rectum.

"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 extras — one a front leg, the other a back — come out the rear of the calf in the pelvic area. The longer of the two legs doesn't quite reach the ground, and they don't interfere with the calf's mobility.

Born without a rectum, the calf was taken to a vet on Monday for the surgery.

A veterinary specialist for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, David Smith, said the calf's twin sexes indicate the embryos for what may have been fraternal twins likely fused during development, producing one calf with extra parts.

Such abnormalities are rare, said UNL beef specialist Rick Rasby.

"It doesn't happen often, because I don't hear about it often," he said.

Such calves are usually plagued with internal problems and don't live long, the cattle experts said.

But so far, Slocum said, the 80- to 85-pound calf bucks and plays like the others born to Slocum's cow-calf operation.

"I'm curious to see what happens," he said.

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