By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
BEACHBURG — A two-headed calf was recently born on a Beachburg farm, but due to complications at birth, it did not live.
Wesley White, 12, was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this calf for two reasons. Firstly, it was the second calf Ginny was going to have, and she had been his 4-H show-calf when she was young.
Secondly, he was expecting this newborn Simmental to be his 4-H show-calf this season.
Looking back to the day the two-headed calf was born, Duane White, Wesley’s father, said Ginny was experiencing birthing problems. The calf was coming out backwards and upside down.
As father and son worked together to help Ginny the cow give birth, all was going well until the calf’s hips got stuck. Mr. White told his son they needed to get the calf out as soon as possible, because it had been stuck in the birthing canal too long already.
“Her udder was full and we knew she needed help,” he said. “I got the back feet up and out but it still wouldn’t come out.
“I’ve pulled calves out backwards before and they’ve lived.”
When the calf came out, they were shocked to see it had two heads.
The calf was average size and throughout the months of pregnancy, Ginny showed no signs of the calf being abnormal, Mr. White said.
“If I had known it had two heads, I would have had a C-section done,” Mr. White said. “I was shocked. It was really weird and creepy. We were actually questioning what we were seeing.”
He noted his father Edgar, 76, has never seen a calf with two heads.
The bull used for breeding is one he purchased from a farmer in Shawville, who used it for breeding, so he knows this was not its first calf.
“All the other calves are normal,” he added. “It was used for breeding in Shawville last year.
“Maybe they were twins but just didn’t make it.”
His daughter, Amber, took the calf to her Grade 10 science class at Fellowes High School in Pembroke so it could be dissected. During the dissection, it was discovered it was a perfectly formed calf with one of everything except it had two heads, he said.
“Two esophagus’s merged into one and there was only one heart, one liver, etc.,” he said.
The calf is now frozen and a local taxidermist is going to pick it up and create a statue for himself, Mr. White said. While it might be nice to have it himself, he said the cost is too exorbitant and the taxidermist can display it himself.
