Jamie Kiely, who rears approximately 40-50 pet lambs annually on his family holding at Ballycoe Farm, north of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford, is delighted with the efficacy of Lamlac - the market-leading ewe milk replacer by Volac Milk Replacers Ireland Ltd.

“I’ve always found Lamlac easy to mix, even in cold water,” the part-time farmer, who works on a full-time basis for a local merchant, said.

“With a light whisk, the milk replacer dissolves easily with minimum effort and stays in solution with little or no separation when mixed.

“Its main ingredient is whey protein concentrate which is easily digested by the lambs. It’s also high in both natural lysine and methionine which are important for both the muscle development and growth of young lambs.”

Jamie continued: “As those involved in rearing pet lambs know only too well, helping them thrive and achieve target growth rates isn’t straightforward.

"Most of the local sheep farmers I work with are so busy during lambing that they’re happy for me to take the pets and for me to rear them.

Detailing how the lambs are fed, Jamie explained: ‘’Several years ago, I bought a couple of Ewe2 Feeders. I set them up each spring and they allow me to feed the lambs ad-lib warm milk at 39°C.

"By eight weeks-of-age we have the lambs on solid feed and out to grass. I couldn’t rear them without the Ewe2 Feeders as it would be impossible to bottle feed all of them regularly, especially when I’m working away from home each day during that critical feeding time.

"The ad-lib system reduces the risk of lambs gorging and they’re more content with this type of feeding in comparison to being bottle fed," he added.

“Every morning before I go to work, I make sure I’ve prepared enough mixed milk replacer to look after the lambs while I’m away and then I check in again every evening to make sure everything is okay.

Jamie, who has been using Lamlac for over 10 years, outlined that it is a system that consistently works well for him.

Lamlac is ideal for most feeding systems including machines, heated buckets, and bottle feeding.

Available as instant in 10kg and 20kg while the freeflow comes in 20kg sizes, Lamlac mixes easily in warm or cold water and is formulated to maximise lamb performance.

Lamlac’s ultra-filtrated, highly digestible milk proteins accelerate growth, featuring high immunoglobulin levels which boost both the lamb’s health and natural disease resistance.

Research results, coupled with consistent feedback from farmers throughout Ireland, including Jamie Kiely, shows that from birth to weaning, lambs fed with Lamlac achieve growth rates of over 300g per day.

Irrespective of the rearing system, lambs require access to fresh water, roughage and a quality creep feed to boost rumen development.

Come the summer, Jamie’s lambs (graded U) will be drafted for sale when they reach between 40kg to 45kg in weight and are sold to Dawn Meats in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, which collects in Dungarvan every second week over the summer season.

Rest assured, demonstrating the same consistency that he can call upon from Lamlac every spring, Jamie Kiely will do it all again with a fresh flock of new arrivals following lambing in 2026.