Louisiana couple rescues rare calf born with fifth leg on head: 'She’s a little spitfire'

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A Louisiana couple recently rescued a calf born with a fifth leg…on its head.

Matt Alexander, 38, saw the Black Angus calf — now named Elsie — at a livestock auction. The calf had been separated from its mother, he said.

At the auction, Alexander was quick to send photos of the young cow to his fiancée, Maghin Davis. When Davis received the photos, she knew immediately that she wanted to rescue the calf.

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Elsie was born with a condition called polymelia. (SWNS)

“No one was going to bid on her and her mom wasn’t there, so she won’t survive,” Davis, 29, told SWNS. “She had just been born and she was so helpless, we couldn’t let her die.”

Elsie has a condition called polymelia, a birth defect when an animal has extra limbs. The condition is extremely rare, especially in cattle — occurring in just one out of every 100,000 cattle born worldwide, National Geographic reported in 2017. In cattle, the condition may be linked to a genetic disorder.

The condition has also been reported in people.

“At the moment it’s not inhibiting her, it’s really just a cosmetic thing, and she doesn’t care about that,” said Davis. (SWNS)

The couple was able to reconnect Elsie with her mother, and the two now live together at the couple’s farm in Hathaway, La. The extra leg on the cow’s head may be removed, Davis said, noting it would primarily be for cosmetic reasons at this time.

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“We want to do what’s best for Elsie, we might have the leg removed but there are risks involved, it’s on her head so there’s a risk of infection,” she said. “At the moment it’s not inhibiting her, it’s really just a cosmetic thing, and she doesn’t care about that.”

Elsie the baby Black Angus calf with the fifth leg on her head. (SWNS)

For now, the 3-week-old calf is doing well; Davis called Elsie “a little spitfire.”

“She has a very curious personality, she likes to explore, she’s brave, she wants to be out and about and roaming, she’s so spunky and cute,” she said. “She’s thriving big time.”