Holy Cow! Two-Headed Calf Shocks Dairy

[madd74]

(Full article - news.sky.com)
Updated: 09:44, Thursday August 23, 2007

Dairy workers were left stunned after a rare new breed of cow was born - Blinky the two-headed calf.


Picture from http://www.fresnobee.com

"We call her Blinky because all four eyes blink at the same time," said Greg Hamstra, owner of Hamstra Dairy in Tulare, California.

Mr Hamstra joked that he was not going to be charging admission fees for workers and their friends wishing to see the unusual beast.

But, speaking to the Fresno Bee newspaper and website, he added: "We're probably getting less done than normal."

Blinky was born on Tuesday morning and was promptly discovered by one of the workers.

The Holstein heifer has one neck and two ears, but she also has four eyes, two noses and two mouths.

Hamstra said the calf suckles on two bottles at the same time.

"It's a rare, freaky thing," Dr Pete Kistler, a Tulare veterinarian who examined Blinky, told the paper.

He says he does not know whether the deformity is genetic or developmental.

Dr Kistler says he suspects that Blinky also has a deformity in her brain because she cannot stand up.

[cmplxty7]

ugh - how creepy. And very sad. Usually these animals (deformed) do not live very long. I think this one is more creepy than it would be if there were two separate heads and brains. But the fact that it has one brain, one ear on each side of it's head, and two working faces...is creepy.

[madd74]

exactly, and that would most likely be the reason when it blinks, that all four eyes go at the same time, and the fact when feeding a bottle, eats the same time. that picture is just freaky!