Always a Bottle Baby

When I walk into the stall at six in the morning, Lindsey, the bottle lamb runs to me. As I squat to feed her, I'm surprised to see two white yearling ewes racing toward me. One sidles up to my left, the other to my right. They are Annie and Regina, last year's bottle babies, who apparently are conditioned to come when they see the glass bottle with the red nipple. But once positioned in front of me, they pause. As adults, they've lost their ability to suckle, to digest milk. They aren't sure what to do as they stand in front of me and Lindsey, the much smaller lamb, sucks away furiously. By evening feeding, they've figured it out. Annie does what comes naturally to an adult ewe when there is an annoying lamb nearby. She swings her head and tries to push Lindsey out of the way.