Mutton Busting

There certainly are times when you wish someone else was with you, and they were the one with the camera.

This morning I went outside on my own to let the chickens out.  When I went into the sheep field, this is what I saw, brought to you by the wonders of Paint.

A baling string had somehow been missed or had been dropped when the hay was put in the feeder, and this ewe tried to wear it as a necklace.  Unfortunately the necklace was too long and she stepped through it with a back foot, and every time she walked and the leg moved backwards, the string got tight.  You'd think she'd eventually step out of it, but it didn't happen.

So with the help of that amazing sheep dog Luna, (oops, my tongue is stuck in my cheek) we got them in a small pen in front of the chicken coop.  It wasn't really small enough, but I managed to snag the ewe as she went by.  I didn't get a very good grip, and I was wearing gloves, so that didn't help.  This is the biggest, youngest ewe, around 200 lbs.  

I was struggling to hang on to her and we end up going down the bit of a hill and she got me rammed between the tree and her head.  

The she got turned around and I was fighting to keep my grip on her, but was at the back end more or less sitting on her.  Since I didn't have control of her head and she was dragging me along for the ride, I ended up letting go.

So I ditched the gloves and nonchalantly sauntered past, and managed to grab the string.  Of course she lunged to get away, and I had flashbacks of my hands being all sawed up again like I did with the extending leash.  Somehow I managed to grab some fleece up by her head, got her nose shoved round to her shoulder, she went down on  her side and I got the string off.

Never a dull moment!

PS  We had turkey soup and cheese buns for supper tonight, the extra stock is in the freezer, the bits were dried for dog treats, and the carcass went in the woodstove to be burnt to ashes to be put on the garden.

Don't I feel smug!