A cow born with five feet was saved from a slaughterhouse and gifted to Buddhist monks in Thailand.

The female cow was about to be butchered for meat when villagers in Ratchaburi province noticed the bizarre mutation and pitched in money to buy her.

An extra limb had sprouted from one of the cow's hind legs giving it two functioning hooves. Apart from the strange appearance, it did not have any other health issues.

The extra leg and hoofs were not affecting the five-year-old cow's daily life and it has been able to live comfortably until it was faced with being killed for meat.

The villagers who saved the cow named her Pho Ngern and kept her among the other animals.

However, some superstitious locals believed that the unique animal may be holy because of its horns that resemble the shape of a monk's alms bowl.

They decided to offer the 'lucky cow' as a gift to the Buddhist monks in Wat Pho Sri temple last month on October 28.

An 88-year-old monk, Phra Srisawat, received the cow and thanked the villagers for saving the animal's life.

He said: "The temple staff will take well care of the tame animal. I am glad that we saved its life from the butchers and lived to become bigger and healthier."