But the six-day-old sheep, born in Wellington, New Zealand, has three reasons that make him literally stand out from the sheep crowd.

The lamb was born with seven legs - and manages to walk around by using five of them. One even has two hooves.

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Three extra legs of lamb: This new-born has almost as many legs as an octopus

Two of the extra limbs hang behind the lamb's forelegs and just dangle but he uses the three hind legs and two front ones to walk.

Unsurprisingly, farmer Dave Callaghan said he was shocked to see the seven-legged creature wandering around the paddock with his normal sibling and mother.

Dave said: "I have never seen anything like that."

He might think he has stumbled across a money spinner, given the penchant for a succulent leg of lamb.

But sadly, the new-born is unlikely to survive because of health problems.

Vets believe his condition is a result of an error during embryo formation, which meant he was born a polydactyl - or with many legs.

It is a condition that occurs once in several million sheep.

Veterinarian Steve Williams at Canterbury Vets Clinic in Methven said the animal is also a hermaphrodite and missing some of its bowel which means he will probably have to be destroyed.

"To keep it alive is probably inhumane really," Mr Williams said.

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