A calf that was rejected by its mother has become an unlikely housemate and a social media hit, after a Cheshire farmer started raising her by hand.

Tash Thompson, 26, shares her home near Crewe with June, a 120-kilogram Simmental Pedigree calf that follows her around the kitchen and has developed a habit of chewing through WiFi cables.

Videos of June wearing bows, scarves and Manchester City colours have drawn thousands of fans online. Tash said, “She was always following me around outside, so I thought, why not let her into the house?

“After that, she kept coming inside, so I just decided to set up a tripod one day.” June was rejected by her mother after birth, so Tash stepped in and bottle-fed her herself.

After caring for the calf around the clock, Tash said June did not want to leave her side. She said, “I made a TikTok video showing me making a bottle and feeding her, but I wasn’t expecting it to get 500,000 likes.

“All of my family were howling. It seemed to be really popular, so I just carried on. “I can’t believe how many people have seen her now.

“One of the videos has got millions of views.”

The videos show June waking Tash up in bed, getting her teeth brushed, drinking milk from a giant bottle and standing still while bows are clipped into her hair. Tash said: “I put her in a multi-coloured, fluffy snood from Dunelm Mill and she just started strutting around in the kitchen, it was hilarious.” Despite the attention online, June still spends most of her time on the family farm, although Tash said she sometimes causes problems when she comes inside.

Tash said, “She has chewed through our WiFi cable box, which is a nightmare; she has a real thing for cables.” She said the family has been surprised by how well-behaved June is in the house. Tash added, “It’s very cute when she puts her head on the kitchen top.

“I think I’ve accidentally potty-trained her, too, because she knows not to go in the house. “She doesn’t really make any mess because she’s too small to cause any damage. She’s like a big dog.” June is about 0.9 metres tall, and her place in the house has stretched to football routines too.

Tash said: “My whole family support Man City, so I’ve got lots of tops and scarves.

“The derby was coming on, so I thought, let’s get them on for June. It’s like we share clothes!” Behind the videos, Tash said caring for June has also helped her manage epilepsy, which she has lived with for years. Tash said, “Because I’ve had to bottle feed her since she was a baby, I’ve had to keep to a strict schedule.

“My medication is awful, I have to take six tablets a day and they zombify you.

“But June has made sure I get up every morning and stay on schedule.” She said the animals on the farm have helped her more broadly, too.

Tash added, “All of my cows are therapy for me, really. It’s a great way to get yourself outside.

“June brightens up my day and I think she does the same for everyone who watches her on TikTok.” Tash also joked that the family may soon need to repair its French windows if June keeps squeezing through the back door as she grows.

Asked if she expected one of her farm animals to become a viral star, Tash said: “I wouldn’t have believed it. I’d think you were crazy.”