Cold milk feeding maintains growth rates and offers flexibility for surplus lamb rearing
14th February 2025
A recent survey of over 100 sheep producers has highlighted that 58% of respondents will consider feeding milk replacer cold to surplus lambs this season and view the method as a viable alternative to feeding warm milk during the busy lambing period.
In a separate question, over half of respondents said that feeding milk replacer cold to lambs has no difference to lamb growth rates and can be advantageous for feeding lambs at different growth stages.
The data comes from the annual Lamlac Lamb Intentions Survey carried out at the end of 2024.
Dr Jessica Cooke from Lamlac said that ewe milk replacer fed cold is a proven technique and provides surplus lambs with the consistent rearing support they require.
She said: “Rearing surplus lambs with milk replacer fed cold offers sheep producers a time-effective feeding method in their systems.
“After following recommended rearing practices during the first week of life, the ability to feed cold can also be useful in situations when rearing lambs of different ages requires milk to be fed at a constant temperature.”
No negative impact of cold milk
This response from sheep farmers is supported by trial work from Reaseheath College, where comparisons between cold and warm milk feeding were evaluated on surplus lambs.
Dr Cooke highlighted how the cold milk-fed lambs performed in the trial. She said: “Lambs fed cold milk replacer from just over a week of age showed no negative impact on their performance.
“In fact, lambs fed cold milk replacer performed marginally better through to weaning – achieving a daily live weight gain of 0.27kg/day, compared with the 0.25kg/day delivered by the warm milk-fed group of lambs.
“This data highlights that feeding milk replacer cold isn’t a poor alternative to warm milk feeding and can add flexibility to lambing systems. With over half of producers stating it has no difference to growth rates, flockmasters should consider it as a viable feeding option, especially if warming milk isn’t possible or time limitations prevent it.”
General rearing advice for producers administering milk cold to surplus lambs should not be any different to feeding warm milk replacer.
“A single lamb reared away from the ewe to weaning (at an average of 35 days of age) will require a minimum of 9.5kg of Lamlac (equating to 47.5 litres of reconstituted ewe milk replacer).
“It is worth remembering that lambs should have access to fresh water, straw, and a good quality creep feed to encourage rumen development. Producers feeding cold milk replacer should always mix cold and feed, rather than mixing warm and allowing to cool, as this could encourage lambs to gorge,” Dr Cooke concluded.
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