Pebbles the baby donkey has fun in the sun at Mainsgill Farm

Rachel Henshaw, 22, who works at her family's Mainsgill Farm, beside the A66 near Richmond, noticed Pebbles was not thriving soon after her birth at the well-known attraction. The family took the foal to Swale Veterinary Surgery in Richmond on Good Friday, where she was placed on a drip, because her mother’s milk had no nutritional value.

Since then, the family have been bottle feeding poorly Pebbles, whose recovery has come on leaps and bounds.

Ms Henshaw said: "We saw the foal at a couple of days old just wasn’t looking right, wasn’t happy, so we took it to our local vet, he was excellent and put her straight onto a drip.

“She’s thriving, it’s a lot of hard work but we’re just glad to see she’s doing well and jumping around the place.”

Visitors to the farm, which has an expanded farm shop and a range of other animals, can now see three-week-old Pebbles playing alongside her fieldmates.

“I’ve kept donkeys for a long time,” said Ms Henshaw. “They’re good pets to have and keep you company with great big personalities.

“All she does now is eat sleep and play, she gets plenty of cuddles off us all here at Mainsgill, she’s a pretty spoilt donkey.”