Kelvin Fletcher and his wife Liz Marsland are back with a new series of Fletcher’s Family Farm on ITV and the latest episode saw a concerning health update

Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher has expressed his shock after one of his calves received an unforeseen diagnosis in the most recent instalment of Fletcher’s Family Farm.

The soap star and his wife Liz Marsland have been documenting their agricultural adventure on ITV since 2022.

Now in their fourth year of farming, the family and their four youngsters have returned to the Royal Cheshire Show to enter their bull calf Ray into competition.

However, the evening before his scheduled appearance, Kelvin disclosed that Ray had “taken a turn” and summoned on-site vet Matt for an examination.

After confessing he was in “two minds” about showing him, Kelvin described how Ray was struggling to settle in the exhibitors’ tent, reports the Express.

Matt checked Ray’s temperature and found he was running up to 103 degrees Fahrenheit, marginally above the optimal average of 101.5 degrees.

“Quite often we’ll see it,” Matt explains. “He’s had quite a bit of stress with that, he’s had a journey.

“It’s the stress of transport, it’s the stress of show. That higher level of stress knocks through immunity a little bit and he’s just started with a bit of pneumonia.”

Whilst Ray’s diagnosis sounded alarming, Matt reassured Kelvin that pneumonia in cattle is considerably less serious than it can be in people.

“Farmers will hear the term pneumonia and it feels a bit alarmist, because we wouldn’t describe something as pneumonia in humans unless it was, sort of, on death’s door,” Matt went on. “But we refer to pneumonia quite commonly in cattle.”

Matt explains to Kelvin that Ray will receive anti-inflammatory medication to reduce his temperature and chest swelling, along with a single dose of antibiotics.

He advises Kelvin to “leave him be” for a period to help lower his stress levels.

“Poor Ray,” Kelvin remarks. “It’s an incredibly rough start to this year’s show. I’m just hoping the medicine takes effect soon and the vet will be back first thing to see how he’s faring.”

Whilst reassuring Ray following his examination with Matt, Kelvin acknowledges: “Well, that’s a bit of a turn of events, really.

“That shows what the experienced farmers [know]. It’s a good job that they alerted me to that because I would have absolutely missed that, I would not have known to look for that.

“So, looks like we’ve got in just in time there. I’m feeling, yeah, a bit surprised. I was not expecting this. You’ve just got to roll with the punches, haven’t you?”

Kelvin informed audiences that he would decide the following morning whether Ray was fit enough to compete, as ensuring the calf’s recovery remained the top priority.

Watch the newest instalment of Kelvin and Liz’s farming journey to find out whether Ray was well enough to make his first appearance.

Fletcher’s Family Farm continues Sundays at 11:30am on ITV1 and ITVX.