Sunny and Violet Turn Two: From Tiny Orphans to Thriving Sheep

Today, we’re celebrating a very special birthday at Pear Tree Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Sunny and Violet are turning two years old 💚💚

Watching them now, exploring the fields, grazing alongside their friends and simply being sheep, it’s hard to believe they were once just day-old lambs fighting for survival. Every year we’re asked to help orphaned lambs from a variety of situations. A mum who has died giving birth. A rejected runt. A baby who is simply unwanted.

In every case, there’s the same thing: a tiny, innocent life who just wanted their mum.

Sunny and Violet arrived when they were only a day or two old. Fragile, confused and completely dependent on us, they needed round-the-clock care.

One of our incredible volunteers opened up her home to foster them, filling those early days with bottle feeds, warmth, sofa snuggles and sleepless nights. Little Violet had a particularly tough start. She developed scours, likely from bacteria picked up in her first hours of life, and needed careful treatment and monitoring. Despite everything, she showed a bravery far bigger than her tiny body.

Sunny, sweet, gentle and endlessly inquisitive, soon figured out the bottle and from that moment on, there was no stopping him.

Day by day, they grew stronger.

Alongside them, Pluto has been learning too, and the three of them are now getting used to life outdoors. After growing up with comfy sofas, warm fires and constant cuddles, moving out into the fields has been a bit of an adjustment!

But it’s an important step. They’re learning how to be sheep, building confidence, finding their place in the flock and preparing for a long, happy life surrounded by other rescue sheep.

Caring for orphaned lambs is an incredible experience. The trust they place in you. The bond. The pure joy when they begin to thrive.

But it’s also heartbreaking.

Because they should never have needed us in the first place.

They should have been with their mothers. And no matter how hard we try, humans with plastic bottles will never replace the warmth, comfort and language of a sheep mum.

Everyone loves the image of spring lambs in green fields. But far fewer people see what happens next for most of them.

We can’t ignore that reality. It’s exactly why this sanctuary exists.

So for Sunny and Violet, we choose something different.

We choose safety.
We choose kindness.
We choose a life of freedom.

Two years on, they are happy, healthy and exactly where they belong.