A dedicated farm manager has helped hand-raise a lamb in his home after it was born “too weak to feed.”
Somali lamb Coco has been living in the home of Hillview Animal Park farm manager, Craig Holmes, 35, after she struggled with being fed by her mom.
Staff became concerned after the lamb appeared to be unable to stand up. They then decided to temporarily remove Coco from the flock, hand-rearing her in Mr. Holmes’s home instead.
Her first few days were “touch and go” at the Clackmannanshire, UK, farm, but Mr. Holmes kept her warm by the fire and stuck to a schedule of six feeds per day for the little lamb.
Over the past few weeks, staff at the farm have been keeping a close eye on her as she grows, but they’re confident Coco will be able to rejoin the rest of the flock in around six months.
Mr. Holmes feeds Coco a daily diet of full-fat goat’s milk and she consumes around 1 liter (1 quart) per day—but is expected to work her way up to 1.5 liters (1.5 quarts).
“Her feet were facing the wrong way when she was standing, so she couldn’t stand up to feed,” Mr. Holmes said. “I brought her into the house to bottle-feed her, but by the time her legs and feet had corrected themselves, she’d already bonded to me.”
Since receiving Mr. Holmes’s care, Coco thinks he’s her mom, and he plans to raise her in the house until she’s big enough to rejoin her kind.
“She’ll eventually get introduced back to the flock,” Mr. Holmes said.
Coco will be bottle-fed until she’s between four and six months old.
Quirky Coco has been a lovable—and chaotic—presence in Craig’s house, enjoying relaxing by the fire and following Mr. Holmes and staff from room to room.
“Coco gets into absolutely everything—we have to watch her all the time!” Mr. Holmes said. “She likes to lie in front of the log burner, and she follows us around all the time. If we get up to do something in the other room, she’ll follow us through.
“Anything she can catch, she will chew. She also tries to jump up on the sofa, but she’s not quite big enough to be able to do it just yet!”
Staff at Hillview Animal Park are thrilled by her progress and are eager to see her rejoin her flock.
“She’ll be kept here and live with the rest of her flock—and hopefully, when she’s older, she’ll have some lambs of her own,” Mr. Holmes said.
