A four-legged hen with two cloacae and three caeca

Here we report a fourteen-month-old fourlegged local hen in Nigeria with two cloacae and three caeca. The hen walked with only the normal two limbs, which were larger and cranial to the extra two limbs. The extra limbs were usually suspended in the air and pointed caudally during motion, being attached to the pygostyle by cartilage and skin tissue. Investigations of the bird were carried out using radiology, necropsy findings and biometry. The intestines occupied the caudodorsal portion of the abdominal cavity with three caeca attached at the terminal end of the ileum; two on the right side of the median plane and one on the left. The right caecum was fused and had a divided distal end, terminating in two blind sacs. The hen had two cloacal openings, one on each side of the median plane and was observed to consistently defecate only through the right. The findings from our work provide information on multiple developmental abnormalities in the hen.