Amanda Owen has set the record straight after ‘disgusting and disturbing’ video of her son Reuben sparked fan backlash on social media.
At the start of May, the shepherdess, 50, shared a clip of her son Reuben, 21, laying on an ewe and lamb while helping her out on Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, Yorkshire.
The video received a number of negative comments in the comments section and Amanda has decided to speak out about the matter.
Sharing a video of her milking an ewe, alongside some other snaps from lambing season, Amanda said: ‘Here we go!!!! More disgusting and disturbing behaviour just for ewe.
‘*Obviously we haven’t learnt anything, even after being slammed for the ill treatment of these woolly commodities* Time to finally explain myself.
‘Amazingly enough it’s been a busy couple of months, the physical birth element of lambing time is just a part of the picture.’
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Amanda Owen has set the record straight on her ‘disgusting and disturbing’ video of her son Reuben that sparked fan backlash on social media
At the start of May, the shepherdess, 50, shared a clip of her son Reuben, 21, laying on an ewe and lamb while helping her out on the Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, Yorkshire
The video received a number of negative comments in the comments section and Amanda has decided to speak out about the matter
The Our Yorkshire Farm star explained that after giving birth the animals can experience some issues.
She continued: ‘Post natal care is of utmost importance and consequently feeding issues can sometimes require a sheep to be caught in order to treat the issue.
‘They are not particularly good patients but we treat them with care, compᴀssion and as infrequently as possible.
‘So far, after a lifetime of shepherding I have never had one willingly saunter over and request help with labour, breast feeding or any other minor ailment.
‘Maybe it would be a lot easier to take care of them and handle them if they were all crammed into an industrial shed, not free to exercise and graze the meadows, moors & pastures?????
‘But I reckon that we all know that being outside, free to wander and live naturally is a far better way for them.
‘Incidentally the person most likely to be injured in the whole process of catching and restraining a sheep is me or even one of the sheepdogs.’
Many rushed to the comments section to share their support.
Read More Our Yorkshire Farm’s Amanda Owen discusses raising nine ‘feral’ children
One said: ‘U r amazing.’
‘Great job Amanda and your pᴀssing all your knowledge and skills onto your children xxx.’
‘Well said Amanda. Personally I wouldn’t bother trying to explain yourself. These people obviously lack intelligence and can’t begin to understand the bigger picture of what’s required to keep a herd of sheep healthy and safe. They do say ignorance is bliss so they must live a very blissful life! Keep up the good work and completely side line these sad people with nothing better to do with their time but look for trouble. Love your programme Amanda..’
‘You shouldn’t have to explain anything.’
‘Well said Amanda. I grew up on a sheep farm in the Peak District so do understand. It’s when you get people commenting who haven’t a clue, best to stay quiet if you have no experience.’
It comes after last week Reuben defiantly hit back at critics after being slammed for the same video.
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*.’
Many rushed to the comments section to share their love with the shepherdess – and told her she shouldn’t have to explain
Our Yorkshire Farm’s Reuben Owen (pictured) 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 (left), 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
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.
Read More Our Farm Next Door’s Amanda Owen faces questions over ‘disgusting’ video of son Reuben Owen
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.’
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
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.’
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.
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
‘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.
Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive And Kids is available to stream on Channel4.com