Tiny duckling has rare mutation: 4 legs

[helderheid]

Sun Feb 18, 7:07 AM ET

LONDON - Webbed feet run in Stumpy's family, but a rare mutation has left the eight-day-old duckling with two nearly full-sized legs behind the two he runs on.


Nicky Janaway, a duck farmer in New Forest, Hampshire, 95 miles southwest of London, unveiled the duckling to reporters on Saturday.

"It was absolutely bizarre. I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four,'" Janaway said.

Stumpy would probably not survive in the wild, but Janaway, who runs the Warrawee Duck Farm in New Forest says he is doing well.

"He's eating and surviving so far and he is running about with those extra legs acting like stabilizers," Janaway said.

The mutation is rare, but cases have been recorded across the world. One duckling named Jake was born in Queensland, Australia, in 2002 with four legs but died soon after.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070218/ap_on_fe_st/four_legged_duck;_ylt=AjzzVM2GhNwNbjHE08aqj0_MWM0F

[brer cat]

1. I'm so glad the little one is on a farm

where he will be cared for.

[jilln]

5. Is that sarcasm? duck farm = duck killing

Maybe this little guy will be spared because he is "unique"... but that farm exists to kill, not care for animals.

[5X]

2. Can they do this with turkeys? Great for thanksgiving.

(alright, I'm vegetarian.)

[helderheid]

6. snort

:spray:

[InvisibleTouch]

3. I can't tell if he also has wings...

...or has the extra legs instead of his wings. Probably he has the wings too; it's like an extra "segment" was added to his body. Hope he does well! :)

[kestrel91316]

4. It's probably NOT a genetic mutation. It's probably just a

run0of-the-mill developmental defect due to unfavorable conditions in the egg at some point.

Not EVERYTHING is a "mutation" (which means altered DNA).

[Arkansas Granny]

7. Many years ago I worked at a chicken hatchery. It wasn't every

day that we saw a chick hatch with 4 legs, but it wasn't a rarity either. We always thought that it may have been the result of incubating a double yolked egg. :shrug: All of the eggs were candled prior to being placed in the incubators and the double yolked ones were always put aside, but I suppose now and then one got in there.

One of the women who worked there tried taking a few of the 4 legged chicks home, but they all dies within a few days. The extra legs just dragged on the ground and would get sores on them which became infected.