Lamb who was abandoned by her momma found freezing by kind farmer, they take her in, hand-feed and give her a warm place to sleep, and she makes an amazing recovery, earning the name Lucky: 'We are shocked we managed to keep her alive'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Jun 24, 2026 8:15 AM EDT

All animals in need of help deserve kindness from us, especially baby animals. 

Mother Nature can be a little cruel. Life in the wild is not just about finding resources and a safe place to sleep. Being born as a wild animal is hard as it is. It takes watching one National Geographic show to know that if you're a weak animal, you won't last long. Runt of the litter kittens get abandoned by their mothers all the time. Puppies get abandoned if they're not strong enough. Even stranger animals - bearded dragons get abandoned, foals get abandoned, hamsters get abandoned. And as babies, without the experience and skill that it takes to survive out in the wild on their own, they have little to no chance of making it. That is where we come in. 

We, humans who love animals so, so much, see these wild animals in need of help, and we can intervene. We can do something about it. The story of Lucky, as was posted on r/aww, showcases exactly that. She was abandoned by her momma. We don't know exactly why. It could have been for many reasons. What we do know is that without her momma, she was not going to survive for very long. 

We don't know how long Lucky was lying outside, freezing, having accepted her fate. However long it was, it was too long. But Lucky was indeed lucky. A farmer found her. That farmer could have looked away. They could have decided they didn't care. It's a lamb, a young lamb, a lamb that they would have to hand-feed and heal, stay up days and nights to help her. They could have decided that it was too much, but they didn't. Because they love animals, and they knew that they could save this life. And it didn't matter how difficult it would be. 

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  • 01

    "Saved this lamb on my run this morning. Her name is Lucky."

    Cheezburger Image 10641111296
    via bumb1ebeetuna

  • Seeing this little thing freezing and in pain, yeah, we wouldn't have been able to look away either. Thank you for doing what you did. Thank you for saving her life. 

  • 02
    stupled How do you save a lamb?
    via stupled
  • 03
    bumblebeetuna OP She was abandoned by her mum (its not that uncommon for mums to reject lambs) so I'm bottle feeding her until she is big enough to graze independently. She was very cold and weak when I spotted her we are shocked we managed to keep her alive.
    via bumb1ebeetuna
  • 04
    Nkechinyerembi So would you say she's... out on the lam(b)? I'm sorry. It had to be said.
    via Nkechinyerembi
  • 05
    bumblebeetuna OP Ewe must be out of your mind with that nonsense. There will be muttony.
    via bumb1ebeetuna
  • 06
    Cheezburger Image 10641108480
    via Canva / Backyard Productions

    Cute model of a lamb skipping around on green grass. 

  • 07
    pythonidae_love So as a veterinarian.....could you name her anything else? I don't know if the same superstition is true for farm animals as it is for dogs/cats, but those of us in the veterinary community HATE it when animals are named Lucky. Because they usually are the unluckiest ones! Yes it's a superstition, but we all believe it to some extent!
    via pythonidae_love
  • 08
    bumblebeetuna OP Oh I've never heard that!!! While I was washing my gillionth load of towels and making a bottle at 2.30 this morning I thought the name "Regret" was actually really pretty.
    via bumb1ebeetuna
  • 09
    atomicshrimp What's your plan?
    via atomicshrimp
  • 10
    bumblebeetuna OP Be miserable and sleep deprived for a couple of weeks until shes big enough to go out and join our little hobby herd. We have bred our own meat lambs before but generally my hand raised ones are not for the freezer so she will live as a paddock ornament (which will be received with much eye rolling from my partner as hes the one who has to do all the fencing lol)
    via bumb1ebeetuna

  • Now, this is one kind human. It is not easy to make a commitment like this. Doing this is a lot of work, it's hard work, it's a massive investment. And it's all going to be worth it, we know it, and they know it too. 

  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10641107968
    via Canva / neelam279

    Tiny lamb walking on green grass, as represented by an adorable model. 

  • 12
    lazy_pig What do you mean exactly by 'saved'? Was she wandering around on her own?
    via lazy_pig
  • 13
    bumblebeetuna OP I live in a farm town and she was in the paddock alone, the rest of the mob had run off. Ewes will abandon lambs for different reasons, sometimes if it's a twin/triplet, if they are frightened by something during the birth or just mother. a This girl was extremely fortunate I went past, she was ice cold when I spotted her.
    via bumb1ebeetuna
  • 14
    Cheezburger Image 10641110528
    via Canva / cocoparisenne

    Image of a cute smiling lamb, represented by a model. 

  • 15
    BekisElsewhere39 What a cutie!! How did you find Lucky?
    via BekisElsewhere39
  • 16
    bumb1ebeetuna OP I spotted her from the road in one of our neighbouring farm's paddocks. She must have been rejected by her mum because she was all alone and extremely cold/weak. Was looking very unlikely she would survive but she had a feed and a snooze by the fire and has pulled through. She earned her name for sure!!
    via bumb1ebeetuna
  • 17
    Cheezburger Image 10641109760
    via Canva / Lorna Pauli

    Picture of a lamb with downturned large ears outside, as shown by model. 

  • 18
    mariefury My grandma used to tell me stories about growing up on a farm. She said that every year there were 1 or 2 lambs that got rejected by their moms, so she and her sisters would take them in and bottle-feed them. She passed away last year. Thank you for reminding me of her!
    via mariefury
  • 19
    Fox_Hawk We call them cades. Usually the weakest if a ewe has triplets, but sometimes just rejected for sheep reasons. We used to go to market in February and pick up 6 or so to rear. Farmers would usually let us take them for nothing, or at best a few quid each.
    via Fox_Hawk
  • 20
    igotnothing1455 Ohh what a cutie helping her thank you for
    via igotnothing1455
  • 21
    Vyntarus K-ewe-tie?
    via Vyntarus

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