Elsie, the calf with a leg on her head, was separated from her mother in a livestock auction, where she was ignored by many due to her unique condition.
But 38-year-old Matt Alexander saw something different.
The 38-year-old farmer texted pictures of Elsie to Maghin Davis, his fiancé, and told her that they need to have the calf.
Maghin said, “No one was going to bid on her and her mom wasn’t there, so she won’t survive. She had just been born and she was so helpless, we couldn’t let her die.”
Elsie has a condition called polymelia, it is rare and only happens once per 100,000 births.
She added, “I take on rescues. You never know what’s there’s going to be at our house, I actually feel weird if I’m not bottle feeding something. Most people think of cattle as their livelihood, they don’t rescue animals, so when they see a calf like Elsie they just see her as a problem, a waste.”
Maghin and Matt got Elsie and started to track down the mother of the calf with the hopes of reuniting them.
The couple managed to track down the mum of the calf and brought them back to their pastures in Hathaway, Louisiana.
Maghin said the mother and the calf are really happy to be together.
Maghin added, “Elsie’s mom started feeding her right away. We were also bottle feeding her to build up her strength.”
The 5-legged calf is now 3-weeks-old and is happy and healthier.
Maghin explained how Elsie is now, she said, “She’s a little spitfire now, 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’s thriving big time and her mom is very protective over her.”
Mahin added, “She started bucking for the first time the other day.”
Matt and Maghin are currently in talks with doctors and vets to see if they should get the fifth leg of Elsie amputated.
Maghin said, “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. At the moment it’s not inhibiting her, it’s really just a cosmetic thing, and she doesn’t care about that.”
She added, “I don’t want to lose her so we are being very cautious with the decision.”