Forget one man and his dog – this plucky little fella has upset the pecking order on one Cumbrian farm.

For the past 18 months, this game cock pheasant has been helping Gamblesby farmer Chris Purdham round up his sheep.

The unnamed bird appears several times a day while Chris is doing the rounds on his quad-bike checking on his fell sheep.

“He’s there first thing in the morning, and last thing at night, and even when I go down at times during the day to check on the sheep,” said 33-year-old Chris.

“He just appears when he hears my quad-bike.”

Chris says the bird first appeared during his 2015 lambing season.

“He first started following me around the fields and down the lonning.

“Then one day he just started to round the sheep up. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing at first, but I have got used to him now.

“It’s definitely the same cock pheasant,” said Chris.

“After I’ve finished checking the sheep, we both go our own way to get our breakfast,” he added.

The bird’s antics are causing a stir on social media after Chris posted a video showing the pheasant rounding his sheep up from one field through a farmgate to an adjoining one.

“He even waits for a couple of seconds to make sure all the stragglers are through,” added Chris.

“He’s not even afraid of my sheepdog.

“They seem to have got used to each other, and the pheasant is definitely cock of the walk. He just goes where the sheep are.”

The scenes in Chris’s fields are reminiscent of the film Babe, where a pig raised by sheepdogs learns to herd sheep with a little help from the farmer.

“I’ve had a few friends comparing the pheasant with Babe,” laughed Chris.

He said the bird helps him round up a flock consisting of about 270 sheep.

“They are our fell ewes wintering near Glassonby, and are checked every day,” he added.

So far, Chris is getting 2,000 hits a day on Facebook.

“I have come in for a bit of ribbing from friends, but mostly people cannot believe their eyes.

“One friend said he needed a good dog, but I told him the bird wouldn’t come cheap. A good dog like that is worth its weight in gold.”

Steven Ivinson, commented on Facebook: “Reckon it would make two grand at Skipton Sheepdog sales”, while another comment from Ethan Kinney said simply: “This is class.”