No, you’re not seeing double – this cow really does have two heads!
The mutant cow was born at a farm in Kentucky with two heads, including four eyes and ears, and two mouths and noses.
The Tarter family were left shocked by the bizarre birth, which they have been told is ‘one in 400 million’.
Cassie Tarter, 20, said: ‘He had two heads, four ears, four eyes, two noses, two mouths, and two tongues.
‘He was very short-backed but he also had his spine inverted into his chest cavity. His back legs were deformed and he had a very short tail.’
No, you’re not seeing double – this cow really does have two heads! The mutant cow was born at a far in Kentucky with two heads, including four eyes and ears, and two mouths and noses
The Tarter family were left shocked by the bizarre birth, which they have been told is ‘one in 400 million’
The mutant cow was born at the farm in Edmonson County, in the US state of Kentucky.
Cassie, an agriculture student, was told it was a one in 400 million birth.
‘I was shocked,’ she said.
‘We had a pig like this years ago but I wasn’t born at the time.’
Two-headed animals often face a multitude of health problems, and though this one was born alive, it lived only a short time.
As well as an abnormal spine, the calf had a cleft palate in one of its mouths, arthrogryposis in its legs, and an underdeveloped rectum.
The mutant cow was born at the farm in Edmonson County, in the US state of Kentucky, but sadly did not survive
Cassie Tarter, 20, said: ‘He had two heads, four ears, four eyes, two noses, two mouths, and two tongues. ‘He was very short-backed but he also had his spine inverted into his chest cavity. His back legs were deformed and he had a very short tail’
Nonetheless, its short life made a big impact on Cassie and her classmates.
She said: ‘I had to have it to bring to my class at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
‘I learned that there are two ways this can happen: one is DNA RNA replication, another is it being twins that stopped growing and started to be ‘absorbed’.
‘We did an autopsy on him in my physiology and reproduction class and found out his organs were perfect for just one calf so it wasn’t a twin that stopped growing.’
The mother cow is doing well, despite the death of her calf.
And though the experience was tinged with loss, some good came out of the bad.
Cassie said: ‘It was a bit of both because we did end up turning it into a learning experience.
‘So I got that out of it, and so did everybody else.’
