No, you are not seeing double: this cow really has two heads!
The mutant cow was born on a farm in Kentucky with two heads, including four eyes and ears, and two mouths and noses.
The Tarter family were shocked by the bizarre birth, which they were told was “one in 400 million”.
Cassie Tarter, 20, said: ‘He had two heads, four ears, four eyes, two noses, two mouths and two tongues.
‘He had a very short back, but his spine was also in his chest cavity. His hind legs were deformed and he had a very short tail.’
No, you are not seeing double: this cow really has two heads! The mutated cow was born somewhere in Kentucky with two heads, including four eyes and ears, and two mouths and noses
The Tarter family were shocked by the bizarre birth, which they have been told is ‘one in 400 million’
The mutant cow was born on the farm in Edmonson County, 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 that years ago, but I wasn’t born yet.”
Two-headed animals often face a host of health problems, and although this animal was born alive, it only lived for a short time.
In addition to an abnormal spine, the calf had a cleft palate in one of its mouths, arthrogryposis in its legs and an underdeveloped rectum.
The mutated cow was born on the farm in Edmonson County, Kentucky, but unfortunately did not survive
Cassie Tarter, 20, said: ‘He had two heads, four ears, four eyes, two noses, two mouths and two tongues. ‘He had a very short back, but his spine was also in his chest cavity. His hind legs were deformed and he had a very short tail’
Nevertheless, the short life had a major impact on Cassie and her classmates.
She said, “I had to have it to take to my class at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
‘I learned that this can happen in two ways: one is DNA-RNA replication, the other is when twins stop growing and become ‘absorbed’.
“We performed an autopsy on him in my physiology and reproduction class and found that his organs were perfect for just one calf, so they weren’t twins that stopped growing.”
The mother cow is doing well, despite the death of her calf.
And while the experience was steeped in loss, some good came out of the bad.
Cassie said, “It was a little bit of both because we ended up making it a learning experience.
“So I took that out, and the rest too.”