Four-legged Stumpy 'doing well'

Stumpy was born in February at Warrawee Duck Farm, Copythorne, Hants, with two extra legs behind the two he moves on.

A duckling, called Jake, was born with a similar mutation in Australia in 2002, but died soon after birth.

But Stumpy's owner, Nicky Janaway, said he was thriving on the farm and had now almost reached full-size.

Due to his rare mutation, Mrs Janaway said she thought Stumpy would not survive in the wild but was making himself at home on the New Forest farm, and his spare legs had acted as stabilisers.

Global fame

Mrs Janaway said: "He's doing really well. He is still very tame and loves all the attention he's been getting.

"He won't be allowed to roam the farm because his back legs stick out and could get caught in brambles and I might never find him.

"We're making a very big pen for him to make sure he is kept very safe and he has been paired up with Alice - he seems a very happy duck."

When Stumpy was born on 7 February, Mrs Janaway said she was "gobsmacked" to discover the extra legs.

She added: "It was absolutely bizarre, I was thinking 'he's got too many legs' and I kept counting 'one, two, three, four'."

Stumpy's condition has earned him fame - he made the headlines and made television appearances across the globe after his birth and an online blog has been ensuring fans can follow his every move.

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Warrawee Duck Farm
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