On a Bavarian farm: Calf Ferdinand Gustl is born with five legs
Created: 03/23/2022, 16:33
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
A five-legged calf was born on a farm in the Regen district.
© GUT AIDERBICHL
Had the calf Ferdinand Gustl been unlucky, it would have ended up on the slaughterhouse.
Because his fifth leg poses a risk for companies. But Ferdinand was lucky - he will be operated on on Wednesday.
Regen - When Alfons Ranzinger from Laiflitz in the Regen district entered the stable at the beginning of February, he found a newly born, five-legged calf.
The fifth leg is now being removed in an operation so that the calf does not have to carry a heavy weight on its back throughout its life, reports the
Passauer Neue Presse (PNP)
.
Calf is born in Bavaria with five legs: "I thought it was dead"
Ferdinand is found in the morning at the farm where he was born - he was born at night.
Because of the deformity - the extra leg that had formed on the back, the sleeping calf was thought lost at first.
"I thought it was dead," Alfons Ranzinger recalled to the
PNP
, which first reported on Ferdinand.
"Until it got up and sped off."
Animals with malformations often have to be slaughtered
Animals with malformations are often at risk on farms - if they pose a burden or a risk to farmers.
In a herd, Ferdinand could injure himself or other animals with his fifth leg, most farms would not want to risk that.
His "addition" was no reason for the Ranzinger family to lead Ferdinand to the slaughterhouse.
But there was another problem: "We are a dairy farm with only female animals," says Ranzinger.
"Ferdinand can't stay." The farm is simply not equipped for something like that.
Ferdinand's birthplace took care of the calf
But the Ranzingers wanted to find another way for the calf Ferdinand.
They decided to call Gut Aiderbichl, a farm near Salzburg that specializes in animal rescue.
In addition, the acclimatization of the calf in Austria was a concern.
So that Ferdinand does not have to move alone to Henndorf near Salzburg, around 160 kilometers away, Alfons Ranzinger spontaneously sold the “Gut Aiderbichl” team a second calf, Fritz, on Monday morning.
"They get along well," the family said.
On Wednesday there will be an operation at the cattle surgeon
On Wednesday (March 23) Ferdinand will have to endure it alone for a while.
His fifth leg is removed by a cattle surgeon at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.
A life with a fifth leg would also be possible.
The animal keeper Eva Zach from "Gut Aiderbichl" reports to the
PNP
that she has even experienced a six-legged calf.
But without the heavy leg on your back, life is certainly more carefree.
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