Starting calf performance can have a dramatic impact on finishing performance. The quicker arrival/starting calves acclimate to the feedlot ration and environment, the faster the finish.

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Arrival/Starting Performance
It’s all about keeping calves healthy, minimizing stress, and maximizing feed intake.

Health
Healthy calves enter the feedlot with a performance edge. The Texas Ranch to Rail Program documents that one of the major factors impacting cattle profitability is the difference in return between healthy and sick cattle. The biggest difference in profitability ($151.18/hd) was observed in the 2000-2001 summary (Table 1), while return differences from 1992 to 2001 ranged from $50 to over $150/hd. The biggest profit difference between healthy and sick feedlot cattle is the lost performance of sick cattle.
 

Table 1  Loss in Value Between Sick and Healthy Feedlot Cattle
	Sick	Healthy	Difference
Head	175	600
Death loss, %	6.9	0.001	6.89
ADG, lb	2.45	2.85	0.40
Total cost of gain/hd	$73.34	$56.20	$17.14
Medicine cost/hd	$44.55	$0.00	$44.55
Return/hd	$23.43	$174.61	$151.18
Source: Texas Ranch to Rail Program 2000-2001 Summary.

Stress
Arrival/starting calves are challenged with many different stress factors (shipping, new environment, co-mingling, disease exposure, vaccination, different feedstuffs, etc.). Stress can negatively impact performance by reducing feed intake, slowing weight gain, and lowering resistance to disease. Minimizing the degree of stress placed on calves will enable them to acclimate quicker to the ration and the environment. A pre-conditioning program helps provide a sufficient spread between resistance and disease challenge levels (Figure 1). Stress factors can have an additive effect on newly arrived calves by reducing resistance to disease challenges (Figure 2). Management steps geared to minimize stress on arrival/starting calves foster healthier calves. And, healthier, less stressed calves typically get off to a better start in the feedlot.

Feed Intake
One of the major obstacles to getting calves off to a strong start in the feedlot is low feed intake, which may occur due to:

• Sickness

• Stress

• Non-familiar feedstuffs

• Poor bunk management

• Lack of water intake

Minimizing stress and purchasing calves from suppliers that pre-condition calves can help reduce the incidences of sickness. A healthy calf will typically eat upon arrival at the feedlot; whereas, it is a challenge to entice a sick calf to eat. Calves can be enticed and encouraged to eat from a feedbunk by placing good-quality, long-stemmed hay in the bunk and topping with a palatable supplement. Making ration changes slowly acclimates calves to new feedstuffs and allows the rumen microorganism population time to adjust.

Water Intake
Acclimation to a potentially new water source is vital to encouraging feed intake. Calves that are accustom to drinking from a pond or stream may not readily drink from a tank. If water intake is low, feed intake will also be low. Water intake can be encouraged by allowing water tanks to overflow for the first 24-48 hours after arrival. This will draw the calves’ attention to the water source. A routine schedule for water tank cleaning is essential to optimize water intake.

Achieving Desired Feed Intake
An important factor in keeping calves healthy and productive is a sound nutritional program. Proper nutrient balance with attention to key nutrients is critical to maintain cattle health and promote performance. It is critical to use the calves actual dry matter intake to formulate rations to provide needed nutrients. Figure 3 depicts the wide variation in feed intake for newly arrived feeder calves. Feed consumption should be monitored closely to ensure nutrient requirements and/or medication levels desired for calves are met based on the actual feed intake. To encourage feed intake, the ration should be comprised of high-quality, palatable feed ingredients.

Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting Program
Achieving target feed intake and providing proper nutritional supplementation are the most important factors for getting calves off to a strong start during the arrival phase. Low feed intakes can lead to inadequate protein, energy, mineral, and vitamin status in calves, which can contribute to health problems and poor performance. Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting products are scientifically formulated with these factors in mind, assuring adequate nutritional supplementation in highly palatable forms.

Minerals
The mineral package provided in Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting products is unique. The needed levels and proper balance of minerals in a product’s formulation is extremely critical to achieve optimum mineral availability. Better bioavailability means the mineral can be more effectively utilized by the animal and rumen microbes. The ability to build a strong immune system and withstand stress can be directly affected by a calf’s mineral status.

Vitamins
Supplemental vitamins niacin and A, D, and E are provided in amounts beneficial to stressed calves.

Protein
Not all protein sources provide the same benefits. Providing needed types and amounts of protein to stressed calves can boost gains. Proper amount of by-pass protein is included to help improve efficiency, while moderate amounts of non-protein nitrogen helps kick-start rumen population growth by providing an easily utilizable nitrogen source. The incorporation of specific proteins in Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting products gives calves a performance edge.

Roughage Source
Highly digestible fiber sources with high energy values are used in Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting products to aid rumen fermentation, which helps keep calves healthy and on-feed.

Flavor Enhancement*
Achieving targeted feed intake is paramount for getting calves off to a healthy, fast start on feed. Shipped or newly weaned calves can tend to have low feed intake. In addition to using the highest quality ingredients available to manufacture Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting products, the use of Sucram (Figure 4) and other special flavorings entices highly stressed calves to the feedbunk.

*Flavor enhancement is not included in Stressfighter 1, Super Stressfighter 1, NutriTUB, and OptiCor Booster Mineral products.

FIGURE 4
Research Documents Sucram’s Impact on DMI and Resulting Improvement on ADG and FE.

Extra Kick
Alliance Nutrition’s Super Ignitor® and Super Stressfighter® products are formulated with complexed (organic) trace minerals and ADM's exclusive yeast supplement to provide a nutrient kick for highly stressed calves.

Complexed Trace Minerals
Minerals are especially critical to optimize performance of arrival/starting cattle. Immune system function, rumen function, and ability to withstand stress without succumbing to illness are impacted by mineral nutrition. Complexed (organic) mineral sources are more readily available compared to inorganic mineral sources, which could be crucial to the highly stressed calf. Alliance Nutrition’s “Super” Arrival/Starting products are fortified with complexed copper and zinc to give high-stressed calves an edge on mineral absorption.

The ADM Difference
Research has documented the benefits of yeast on rumen function and performance. Alliance Nutrition’s exclusive yeast supplement has been shown to increase feed intake and average daily gain, which is especially beneficial in stressed calves. Calves fed ADM's exclusive yeast supplement outperformed control calves in a 28-day arrival trial (Table 2).
 

Table 2  Performance of ADM Yeast-fed Calves Versus Control
Treatment	ADM Yeast (2 oz/hd/day)	Control
Live weight, lb
Initial	508.2	509.7
Day 28	605.0	585.0
DMI, lb/hd/day
Days 1-7	11.77	11.92
Days 1-28	17.18a	14.25b
Total Gain, lb/hd
Days 1-7	25.87a	17.07b
Days 1-28	97.03a	75.33b
ADG, lb
Days 1-7	3.70a	2.44b
Days 1-28	3.48a	2.73b
G/F x 100
Days 1-28	44.18a	34.45b
Means within row with unlike superscripts are different (P<.10).

Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting Programs target superior performance with ease of use.
Alliance Nutrition’s Arrival/Starting Program offers highly palatable, performance-proven product options to match feeding and management conditions for growing calves on grass or starting calves in the feedlot. The diverse product line offers producers a choice of feeding rates and feed additives to meet their needs. (Click Here for feeding Guide)

Alliance Nutrition offers two product line choices for
Arrival/Starting Programs.

Ignitor®

• Highly palatable feed for weaning, preconditioning, or receiving calves.

• Designed to be fed with grain and/or roughage.

• Provides bypass protein and low levels of urea.

• Contains specially selected roughage sources to encourage consumption and help improve performance.

Stressfighter®

• Highly palatable feed for weaning, preconditioning, or receiving calves.

• Provides a source of high-quality, natural protein for calves with a higher bypass protein requirement. Does not contain urea.

• Designed to be fed with grain and/or roughage.

• Contains specially selected roughage sources to encourage consumption and help improve performance.

Medicated options available include:

• AS 700

• Deccox®*

• Rumensin®*/Tylan®*

• Bovatec®*

• Chlortetracycline

*Not trademarks of ADM.