Portents and signs: Piglet born with 2 heads in China

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Poor piglet: The unique farmyard animal in China.

    

A pig has astonished Chinese villagers after being born with two heads, four eyes and two snouts.

The poor animal hardly has the strength to walk because his twin's head weighs so much.

But pig farmer Jing Guanglan believes the piglet will bring him luck because so many people will want to come and see it - and perhaps buy it.

And he is feeding it with milk powder and fresh vegetables so that it will grow big and strong.

The unique animal was one of a litter of 11 piglets born just four days ago in Beiyan Village in the township of Gaoguan in Chengkou County, in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality.

© CEN
The piglet is introduced to his siblings.

    

The piglet, who has not yet been given a name, weighed 1.5 kilograms (3.3 lb) and was 30 centimetres (12ins) long.

After overcoming his shock at seeing the two-headed animal, he is now giving the piglet special treatment and cares for him like a baby, and has even created a special room for him so that he is not bullied by his siblings.

Experts say the piglet has a rare genetic defect that probably only affects 1 in a 100,000 pigs born.

The piglets are all coloured differently and come from separate fathers, a white tri-lineage crossbreed pig and another pig with wild boar lineages.

Delighted Jing said: 'I was very shocked at first but now I believe it is a sign. The piglet will bring me luck, I am positive.'

'If the pig survives he won't have to wait long to prove it, mutant animals now fetch vast sums from people who want to put them on display to increase the number of visitors in parks and attractions across the country.

'Many however do not live longer than a few days, but if they do, they are worth their weight in gold.