The Citizen, 2016-03-10, Page 12PAGE 12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2016.
Two -headed calf born at farm north of Blyth
Anomaly
With the odds of a two -headed calf much higher than
winning the lottery, being eaten by a shark or being struck
by lightning, it was a truly rare occurrence on Les Caldwell's
beef farm earlier this month when this calf was born. It lived
for less than a day, however, as it was unable to function for
a number of reasons. The animal is seen here at the
veterinary clinic after being transported from the farm.
(Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
An agricultural anomaly was born
on the Moncrieff Road beef farm of
Les Caldwell on March 1 that has
since been sent on for further study.
Caldwell knew one of his cows
was set to calve on Tuesday night, so
he kept checking on her throughout
the afternoon and into the evening.
Just after 6 p.m., she gave birth
relatively easily, Caldwell said, but
when he walked around to tend to
the calf's head he was "shocked" to
see that the animal had the
beginnings of two heads.
He left the animal for a few hours,
before heading back out to the barn
later that night to tend to it further,
thinking there wasn't much he could
do.
The animal was still alive the next
morning, Caldwell said, but he
called in the services of the local
farm veterinarian who confirmed
what he first thought, that the
humane action would be to put the
animal down.
Caldwell said the calf had no
sense of balance and was unable to
stand. It just laid on the floor of the
barn and kicked, he said.
Once the animal was euthanized,
Caldwell said the animal was sent to
the University of Guelph where it
was immediately part of a Grand
Rounds session at the Ontario
Veterinary College at the university.
Caldwell's son Tim, who works at
the university, was able to be part of
the session, providing students and
professors with some background
information on the calf.
A postmortem was conducted at
the university, Caldwell said, which
provided a number of specifics about
the animal.
He said the calf was found to have
two brains, two mouths and four
eyes, but two ears, four legs and one
Council receives storm proposal
Huron County Council isn't quite
sure how to proceed after receiving
an ambitious presentation for a
marine heritage resource centre
proposed for the Goderich
waterfront.
Paul Carroll and Keith Homan of
the Great Lakes Storm of 1913
Legacy Committee spoke to council
recently, asking that their vision
simply not be noted and filed, but
that it be discussed as part of
council's budget deliberations.
They have proposed that resource
centre, not a museum, be housed on
several floors of the bow of the ship
that houses the current museum. It
would be moved closer to the south
end of the Goderich Harbour as part
of the proposal.
Carroll told councillors that a lot
of research has gone into the
proposal with the hope that the
resource centre would fit into the
county's strategic plan for the future,
taking into account Goderich's
distinct maritime history.
The centre, Homan said, could be
part of the revitalization that is
currently underway at the Goderich
Harbour, which includes the new
Beach Street Station restaurant and a
proposal for a new hotel and
conference centre.
As part of his presentation,
Homan outlined a number of
different potential funding sources,
including the Canada 150 Fund.
Goderich Mayor Kevin Morrison,
however, said he had some concerns
with the project. He said he didn't
think it was a bad idea, but that he
felt it was be produced in a bit of a
backwards fashion — especially since
Goderich had yet to commit to
specific planning agreements that
would have to happen before
proceeding, such as a land swap.
He said that Goderich Town
Council, as well as Huron County
Council, would have to see a
comprehensive business plan before
anyone could decide whether or not
to proceed. Meanwhile, Carroll said
that funding — and an intention to
proceed with the project by various
tiers of government — would need to
be in place before his committee
could dedicate funds to preparing a
formal business plan.
Carroll said that the Great Storm
of 1913 committee has done so
much with so little and that hard
work should be recognized. He also
said that while the committee,
through its events, has scraped
together some profits, it doesn't
mean they have enough money lying
around to prepare a business plan
before a firm commitment is made.
Morrison also said that with
Goderich's waterfront study
currently underway, it would be
foolish to proceed with a project
before that study was complete.
Goderich Deputy -Mayor Jim
Donnelly agreed, suggesting a
motion to table the request until that
study is complete, which council
passed.
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tail. Beyond the animal's head, it
was completely normal, Caldwell
said.
Each head had its own esophagus,
he said, but despite having two
brains, there was only one spinal
cord.
The cow that gave birth to the two -
headed calf, Caldwell said, is one of
his younger cows. This calf was only
the second she had birthed.
Caldwell says he's been told by
local veterinarians that he's lucky
the cow wasn't in more distress
throughout the birthing process.
Often in cases like that, which are
extremely rare, surgery is required
or the cow may even die.
Caldwell suspects that the calf was
destined to be a set of twins, but that
they never fully formed. The sire
often gives Caldwell a set of twins
per year, so it's relatively normal, he
said.
As far as the calf, however,
Caldwell said he's never seen
anything close in his 65 years of beef
farming.
A story in the Ottawa Sun last year
about a two -headed calf born in
Beachburg stated that a farmer is
more likely to win the lottery 14
times than he is to witness the birth
of a two -headed calf. According to
the story, it is also more likely that
he would be eaten by a shark 35
times or struck by lightning 571
times.
Famously, there is a full-body
taxidermy of a two -headed calf on
display at the Huron County
Museum in Goderich.
Listowel
Wingham
HOSPITALS ALLIANCE
Together. Leading Care. Better health.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Hospital boards are composed of a group of talented, engaged members
of our communities who have an interest in rural healthcare and
expertise in one or more of quality, communications, marketing, finance,
governance, law, health policy, strategic planning or recruitment.
The Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance is calling for nominations of
individuals who are interested in serving as a Director on the Board.
Directors are elected for a two year term and subject to a bylaw change,
will serve as a director of the Listowel Memorial Hospital and Wingham
and District Hospital. Elected Directors must have a strong interest in
health care services and meet eligibility criteria as defined in the
corporations' bylaws.
If you would like to be part of a volunteer Board that will help forge the
future of acute rural health care in our communities please forward an
expression of interest including background information regarding your
skills and experience to C.E.O./Board Secretary, Karl Ellis, up to May 11,
2016. The nominating committee will consider all submissions along
with the intentions of current directors who are eligible for re-election.
Elections will be held at the Annual Meeting on June 8, 2016.
For additional information, please contact Jennifer Johnston, Executive
Assistant, at 519-291-3120, ext.6241 or jenniferjohnston@lwha.ca
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