Stuck in the Middle With EWE!

It is rather amazing the trouble sheep can get themselves in. Little Zoey, a Babydoll/Jacob cross who looks like a purebred Babydoll Southdown, can stick her head through the fence to get what is dropped from the bigger ewes at the feeder. So, along came one of the other little sheep who stuck her head through the fence too, then proceeded to stretch the wire just enough so that neither she, nor Zoey could get out. The Icelandic cross has no name as she is not going to be a permanent resident on the farm. She is part Barbadoes and part Icelandic, but looks neither except for her lovely wool coat. The Barbadoes ewe was not friendly, very skittish and very wild. She could jump over my head if I tried to corner her in the barn and she was no more than 30 inches tall at the withers. Amazing. But her babies are wild just as she was. She would scoot them to the far reaches of the pen as soon as she spied me, keeping them well away from any contact. So, when this little lady got herself stuck, she was in full panic mode. I attempted first to put her in kneeling position and promptily got kicked with those hind legs for all she was worth. She is pretty strong for a little thing. That was also the closest I have been to her and I thought I should trim her hooves while she was captive, but didnt want to stress her even more and decided against it. Zoe was bound by the tension on the fence wire caused by the bigger ewe. The only option I could see was to clip the wire around the bigger ewe, which of course would then release Zoey once the other was free. So, I did and yes, Zoe backed out and shook her darling little head wondering what on Earth that was all about. She is such a sweet little girl. 

Most of you might be too young to remember an old song entitled, "Stuck in the Middle With You". I did and it seemed amusing to me when I saw the silly sheep exactly in that situation. Silly ewes.