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An emu with four legs hatched at a farm in Nanaimo, B.C., over the weekend, leaving the owners and veterinarians perplexed as to the cause for the malformation.
Celina Knuff, co-owner of Back to Nature Acres Farm, says she’s never seen anything like it on her 21-acre blueberry farm, which also has livestock like emus, chickens, pigs, sheep and cattle.
“We’ve hatched out about 11 chicks so far this year and we haven’t had any issues with them,” Knuff told CBC News.
“I haven’t been able to find anybody that has had a live emu hatch like this, so I’ve been trying to find more information.”
Knuff says the chick was born under incubation. It emerged by itself and so far is alert and happy, but has yet to stand up and clear its bowels — signs that there may be some internal issues that could limit its viability.
“We’re just waiting to see if, you know, everything’s working,” she said.
‘A fascinating case’
As of Tuesday morning, one of the chick’s feet was curled as well. Knuff says she has been massaging the foot and applied bandages to encourage it to straighten out.
Despite its challenges, Knuff says the chick is lively.
Knuff says she’s been in touch with a veterinarian in Washington state who may be able to help out the emu chick and remove its legs if necessary.
Dr. Tyler Stitt, the owner and operator of Winchelsea Veterinary Services based in Nanaimo, says in all his years of veterinary practice he’s never heard of anything like this type of disfigurement.
“It’s a fascinating case,” he said.
Potential causes
Stitt says there are several possible causes for the extra legs.
The most likely is that there was an issue with the temperature that the egg was incubated at.
He says it could also be due to environmental contaminants. Inbreeding and issues with a possible twin that was absorbed by the other are other potential causes.
But Stitt agreed that the chick not having yet defecated is a potentially serious issue.
“Realistically, if the bird’s not able to defecate, it’s probably not going to survive,” he said.
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Long-term options
If the chick is viable, Knuff’s plan is to pass it on to a rescue organization with the financial capability and structure to care for it.
With her blueberry farm getting ready to harvest at any minute, Knuff says caring for the emu herself would be out of the question.
Knuff and her husband are also planning to move to Nova Scotia this fall, where they’ve bought a 50-acre farm in the Annapolis Valley.
Knuff says she hopes passing on the emu to a rescue will give it the best chance at survival.
