Reuben Owen, star of Our Yorkshire Farm, experienced a tense “life-threatening” setback during the latest episode of his Channel 5 series, Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales, airing Tuesday, July 8.
The show, now in its second season, follows Reuben as he grows his heavy plant machinery business alongside his family and friends in the remote Yorkshire Dales.
This episode marked the arrival of spring, bringing a burst of activity. The team began by tackling a huge order of cropped stones. Working in a disused quarry, they hand-finished a hundred tonnes of stone, even visiting a family-run stone merchant to learn professional techniques.
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Meanwhile, Reuben’s girlfriend Jess faced the busiest part of the year as lambing season kicked off on her family farm.
While driving through the fields, the couple spotted a newborn lamb in trouble. Jess noticed that the ewe was not allowing her lamb to feed properly. “I don’t think that ewe is letting that lamb suck—she keeps turning away when he’s trying,” Jess explained.
Closer inspection confirmed the lamb, born only about an hour earlier, was cold, shaking, and hadn’t yet ingested any milk or been licked by the ewe. Without urgent colostrum intake, the lamb’s survival was at risk.
“This will be the most important meal of his life,” Reuben said as they managed to get the ewe to nurse. Jess highlighted the dangers if the lamb missed this critical feeding: “He could develop watery mouth disease, which is really bad and can be life-threatening.”
Once the lamb’s belly was full, Jess quickly took it inside to dry and warm it before safely returning it to the flock.
Reuben praised Jess’s quick thinking, saying, “That’s another little life saved, well done, darling.”
Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales continues to showcase the challenges and rewards of farming life high in the Yorkshire Dales.