A farmer was baffled after her pet cow gave birth to an 'octopus calf' with two interlocking bodies and eight legs.

Loei Wongraj, 58, said her cow went into labour on November 28 evening so they waited near its enclosure in Lampang province, northern Thailand, until it gave birth.

However, several hours had passed and the eight-year-old cow named Mae Wong had not yet pushed any of its baby's body parts out.

After watching the creature writhing in pain, unable to deliver the calf inside, they realised there was something wrong.

Sensing the animal's difficulty with giving birth, the farmer tied the animal to a pole with the help of her husband.

She then lathered cooking oil on the cow's vul-va as a lubricant to help ease the calf's delivery.

The couple massaged the cow's womb to help it push until they finally saw the calf's head.

Loei noticed it was more difficult pulling the calf out because it seemed bigger than most she delivered before.

After three hours, the calf was finally out the next morning (November 29) but the farmer was shocked at the sight of its strange appearance.

Unfortunately, the calf was stillborn and the cause of its death is still unknown. It had two connected bodies, eight legs and only one head. Both the bodies were male.

Loei said she was confused about why her cow would give birth to a malformed baby when it was healthy and eats the best grass.

She said: "My cow is healthy and gets enough nutrition from our farm. I don't understand why it would have a baby like that.

"I've only seen these things on TV, I never thought that my cow would be giving birth to something like this."

The dead calf was buried on land behind the couple's house while excited neighbours rushed into their home hoping to see the two-bodied calf they believed to be a lucky creature.