Four-legged chicken turns heads at Big Bum Farm in northeast Thailand

A farmer in northeast Thailand discovered a four-legged hen in his coup and locals won’t leave it alone. The genetically unusual chicken is believed to bring good luck and might even reveal next month’s winning lottery numbers, according to locals, some of whom visit the chicken every day at – and this is no joke – “Big Bum Farm” in Nong Khai province.

Two weeks ago, Idisak the farmer bought 1,000 hens and placed them in his coup at Big Bum Farm. One of the chickens stood out to Idisak straight away…

“I have been raising laying hens for 15 years. I have never seen a chicken with four legs and two butts.”

Word spread quickly and people started flocking to Big Bum Farm to catch a glimpse of the four-legged, two-bummed chicken, which has since been named “Nong Nam Chok,” which translates to “Little one who brings good luck.”

Some villagers visit the chicken every single day in the hope Nong Nam Chok’s presence brings them wealth and fortune. The villagers observe the hen’s behavior, in the hope it will reveal next month’s winning lottery numbers in some way or another.

So far, villagers think 942 might be the winning three digit lotto number next month – “9” because it is a lucky number, “4” because the chicken has four legs, and “2” because the chicken has two butts. Four-legged chicken fans are also buying lottery tickets with the number 163, which is Idisak’s house number.

Nong Nam Chok might be revered in Thailand, but four-legged chickens discovered elsewhere in the world haven’t been so lucky. A Chinese farmer named Zhu discovered a four-legged chicken on his 10,000 hen farm in Shangdong province. Zhu let the chicken have its 15 minutes of fame, but then he and his family ate it because it “offered double the usual number of drumsticks.” Zhu said it would be wasted if it wasn’t eaten.

Four-legged chickens are rare but have been reported in China, India, and Thailand. The scientific name for this phenomenon is “polymelia”, which is a genetic birth defect and type of congenital malformation of the limbs. A chicken with polymelia grows additional limbs that are often shrunken in size or deformed.

SOURCE: Ejan