Two-headed mutant cow leaves farmer gobsmacked over ‘one in 2,500 anomaly’

A farmer was gobsmacked when one of her cows gave birth to a mutant calf with two heads.

Leslie Hunewill's heifer was struggling to give birth and it became clear why when she went to investigate.

She said: "Examining her, a head and the front legs were in the birth canal and the calf did not feel too large for the heifer to birth on her own, so it was puzzling why she was having difficulty.

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"A lump or swelling was felt behind the head on one side, but when you're not expecting two heads, it's not something you would think would be there.

"As it was dark, windy, and snowy, it wasn’t immediately apparent that the calf had two heads, though it was evident that something was different."

The calf that popped out was a one in 2,500 anomaly but Leslie, 38, didn't immediately realise what had happened.

She explained: "The calf’s body was small – what we would expect with the bull this heifer was bred to – but the head seemed unusually large.

"It's hard to comprehend what you're seeing when you're not expecting what's in front of you!

"Even then, it took a minute to process – were those… two heads?

"It was a bit shocking when it finally sank in that there was a two-headed calf laying out there. I kept watching the short video clip of it over and over."

Leslie is an experienced cow farmer and has worked on her family's ranches in Nevada and California for many years – but even for her this was a first.

She said two-headed cows are produced in 0.039% of births, roughly equivalent to one in 2,500.

“It happens when an embryo tries to split into two separate embryos which would create identical twins, but the split never completed," she explained.

“It isn't something that is genetic, so I understand it's a rare occurrence – from what I can find, conjoined twins occur in roughly 0.039% of bovine births.

“My agriculture science teacher in high school had a stuffed and mounted two headed calf in the classroom – it was very old and moth eaten at that point, but interesting to see.

“I never expected to see one in my lifetime.”

Obstetrical chains and a calf jack were required to eventually get the calf out.

Sadly, the animal did not survive but the farmers found a way to ease the mother's pain.

Leslie said: "We had an orphaned calf that was being fed on a bottle so we grafted the orphan on to the mother and they were both very happy to have one another.

"She is a very attentive mother."

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