The lamb that looks more like a calf

A 14-year-old boy has found himself playing mother to a baby lamb with an identity crisis.

Jake Collier is currently caring - night and day - for a little lamb that looks more like a baby Friesian calf.

Jake agreed to bring-up one of three Jacob Sheep lambs born at his home at the Axe Valley Animal and Bird Sanctuary in Axminster.

The teenager had to step in after it became clear their mother could not care for all of the triplets.

Jake's mum Jayne said: "Jake has taken it in his stride. He's never raised a lamb before, but we've said it's his animal and he's very independent.

"Feeding it every three or four hours certainly gets him out of bed in the morning."

Wildlife Park proprietors Jayne and her husband Andrew bought four sheep last year as "something different" to add to their collection of meerkats, miniature ponies and parrots.

Jayne said: "We are looking forward to taking the lamb outside. The sun has started to shine, but it's so cold they are having to stay indoors.

"The lamb looks like a black and white Friesian calf. When we first got it, everyone thought I'd bought a black and white cow."