title: Four-legged broiler chicken with two cloacae and three ceca.
abstract: This case report examines an Arbor Acres female x Peterson male crossbred 6-wk-old female broiler chicken with four legs, two cloacae, and three ceca. The intestines occupied the caudodorsal portion of the abdominal cavity with three ceca attached to the terminal end of the ileum. The left lateral cecum was larger and had a divided distal end that terminated into 2-cm-long blind sacs. The rectum was dilated and divided into two cloacae that each opened on the dorsolateral aspect of both the right and left cloacal elevator muscles. The two extra legs were attached to the pygostyle by cartilage and skin tissue. Both femoral heads of the extraneous legs were fused together. The extra legs were smaller in size (approximately 17 cm in length) compared with the normal legs (approximately 22 cm). The femoral heads of the two normal legs were disarticulated from the acetabulum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Grasso M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Ebako
authors.forename: Teresa Y
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Morishita
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Mattoon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002432:Cecum / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D002645:Chickens / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002988:Cloaca / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology