Demi Lovato given a goat for 21st birthday

Singer Demi Lovato has a furry friend to keep her company during her charity trip to Africa - she was gifted a goat by locals in celebration of her 21st birthday.

The X Factor judge is in Kenya working with Free The Children, an organization which focuses on international child development.

She is helping to build a new school in the country, as well as volunteering in communities, including alongside the Maasai people, and to mark her milestone, she was handed a farmyard goat, a traditional gift in Africa.

Taking to Twitter.com to tell fans, she writes, "Btw (by the way)... So big deal or anything but... One of Maasai communities gave me a GOAT for my birthday!!!!!! I named him billy."

Explaining why she decided to head to the continent rather than spend her birthday with friends and family, she says, "With 21 being a milestone birthday, I wanted a memorable and meaningful way to celebrate, rather than throw a big birthday bash.

"I knew... volunteering with Free The Children would give me the opportunity to have a life-changing experience I would never forget, with the people closest to me.

"Also having worked with the organization over this past year, it's been great to see first-hand the wonderful work that is being done as a result of all the incredible efforts of young people around the nation."