SOMERSET, Pennsylvania (AP) -- -- Henrietta the chicken was living inconspicuously among 36,000 other birds at Brendle Farms for 18 months -- until a foreman noticed she had four legs.
'It's as healthy as the rest,' the farm's owner, Mark Brendle, told The Daily American.
Brendle's 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, named the chicken Henrietta after the discovery Thursday. The bird has two normal front legs and, behind those, two more feet. They are of a similar size to her front legs but don't function. The chicken drags her extra feet behind her at the farm in in Somerset, Pennsylvania.
In 30 years of farming, Brendle said, he's never before seen a chicken with four legs.
There's no definitive reason why such deformities happen, said Cliff Thompson, a retired professor of genetics at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown. He said it could be an accident of development, akin to a sixth toe on a cat.
Brendle said he jokingly suggested to his family that it sell Henrietta in an Internet auction, but Ashley objected."
How did the chicken cross the road?
September 23, 2006
CNN.com - How did the chicken cross the road? With four legs - Sep 23, 2006:
So are you saying my cat is TOTAL Freak? As she has 14 toes in the front and 12 in the back? Yes she has 7 toes on each front foot and 6 each on the back feet. It's kinda like having a cat with thumbs, but still can't get her to flush the toilet! (Meet the parents)
ReplyDeleteNot at all. My fave cat growing up was a kitten my cousin found in an alley. I named her "Six" because she had 6 toes on each front foot. Not sure I ever counted her back feet though.
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