Cannon Hall in South Yorkshire celebrates exotic new arrival

Philippa the goat has been having an identity crisis for years and is convinced she’s a llama - so the farm have named her an honorary new breed of ‘gllama’ and have allowed her to run with the rest of the pack.

The spirited animal has lived at the farm for quite a few years but whenever she was put back in with the goats she’d make her escape to join her llama friends.

"She’s absolutely tiny in comparison and barely comes up to their knees but they love her as much as she loves them."

Philippa, a pygmy goat whose breed originates from Africa, was with Llama Mia when she gave birth to her baby Spindles, and Philippa stayed with them when she had her own baby last week.

Mr Nicholson added: "It would have been wrong to separate them - so we made sure to time her birth very carefully with Llama Mia so they could be birthing partners together."

The foursome are all living happily together in the rare breeds barn at Cannon Hall Farm.

Yesterday saw the final episode of This Week on the Farm, which features the Barnsley-based farm and aired on Channel 5.

In the final show Cannon Hall farmers and brothers Robert and David Nicholson went to Whitby on a fishing trip recreate childhood memories and, back at the farm, Shire Horse Ruby gave birth to a foal.

The pair from Cannon Hall Farm took part in the show, which was a spin-off from Springtime on the Farm.

The show did so well - getting around two million viewers at its peak - that Channel 5 commissioned two extra episodes mid-run.

During the past eight weeks the farmers have also been honoured by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and won an O2 lockdown award for helping keep spirits up during the pandemic.

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