Our Yorkshire Farm's Reuben Owen defiantly hits back at critics after being slammed for 'disgusting and disturbing' video shared by mum Amanda

Daily Mail​

20-05-2025

Our Yorkshire Farm 's Reuben Owen has defiantly hit back at critics after being slammed for 'disgusting and disturbing' video shared by his mother, Amanda.
Earlier this month, the 50-year-old shepherdess, who is best known for starring in the Channel 4 show, took to her Instagram page to share a clip of her son Reuben, 21, helping her out on the Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, Yorkshire.
In the clip, mum-of-nine Amanda can be heard saying: 'Well this is what you've been getting up to in lambing fields,' while Reuben is laying across an ewe and lamb.
He then picks up the ewe by the horns and she tells her son: 'You did great there! And you got the lamb at the same time.'
Amanda captioned the post: 'Caught ewe. Reuben downs tools and springs into action.
'*Everyone lends a hand, there is no one exempt from lambing time tasks*.'
However, many fans were confused by the post and didn't like seeing Reuben handle the ewe as they didn't know what he was actually doing.
Some took to leaving comments including, 'Why are you treating the ewe like that? Absolutely disgusting and I'm disappointed as I thought you were better than that.'
Or, 'I didn't like how you held the sheep! Absolutely disturbing! Animals are treated with respect and not like trash!'
In an interview with The Telegraph, Reuben responded to the online furore and said: 'I don't have the time or the inclination to scroll through social media.'
The young farmer added: 'If you do ever see me on my phone, I'll be searching for machinery sales.'
Some did jump to the 21-year-old's defence however and penned: 'Please ignore comments from any animal activist… if we all listened to them nothing would ever get done and we'd all be starving by now . Carry on farming.'
Another said: 'Kindness is a gift, if you cannot say anything nice please say nothing at all.'
Our Farm Next Door, which premiered last year on More4, follows Amanda and ex-husband Clive, 69, renovating an abandoned farmhouse alongside their kids Raven, 23, Reuben, 21, Miles, 18, Edith, 16, Violet, 14, Sidney, 13, Annas, 11, Clemmy, nine, and Nancy, eight.
Earlier this month Amanda said she is 'suffering sleepless nights' after facing 'daunting and difficult decisions' in the show.
The roof of the derelict property had no slates on it at all, leaving the Owen family starting from scratch to make sure it was warm and dry.
Their builder Richard needed Amanda to decide which slates she wanted, asking, '15 or 16 inch wide?' - and pointing to one , saying: 'What we are thinking is this but we need a decision.'
She appeared completely overwhelmed by indecision, replying: 'Oh no, is it up to me?'
Explaining her decision-making paralysis, she said: 'Trying to get everything all joined up is so difficult. I never realised there was so much planning going into this.
'Richard is brilliant but Richard still has questions that need answering and it's trying to keep everyone happy.
'It's still quite daunting and it still gives me quite a few sleepless nights.'
The builder admitted it was 'quite hard' to put the 'big, heavy slates' on the precarious farmhouse, known as Anty John's and near the Owen family's Ravenseat Farm.
Amanda and Owen split in 2022 after 22 years of marriage.