Research

November-December 1999
LOW-MOISTURE BLOCK SUPPLEMENT HELPS JUMP START STRESSED CALVES

The supplement is BRIGADE®, a CRYSTALYX® brand product that is formulated specifically to help fight stress in cattle. It is available in 250-lb. steel half-barrels that continuously deliver additional protein, vitamins and minerals. Electrolytes are included and add to its effectiveness as a stress fighter. It also contains chelated/organic sources of copper, zinc and manganese for enhanced immune response. The highly palatable CRYSTALYX® dissolves slowly as cattle lick the surface of the product. The free-choice block is naturally self-limiting and cannot be bitten, chewed or over-consumed.

When placed into CPC's backgrounding program in southern Kentucky, the supplement showed immediate results. A drop in pulls was seen immediately in a trial on 362 four-weight steers. There were fewer chronic cattle, and there was no death loss after 34 days on feed. Co-owner Marshall Celsor and his partners added two other trials using the supplement. Results were just as effective. "Now, when we start a bunch of calves, the first thing I ask is 'are the barrels in the pasture'," he says.

Celsor co-owns CPC Livestock with his son, Brian, and son-in-law, Ivan Pedigo. The Fountain Run, Ky., operation handles several thousand calves a year, and runs a small feed mill. Calves are bought at about 400 pounds. from sale barns in six southern states. To say the calves are stereotypical sale barn types may be an understatement. "They are all highly stressed animals," says Celsor. "Our program is designed to get calves straightened out quickly, then have them ready to go to the feedlot at about 700 lbs. Basically, we correct other people's mistakes."

Calves are fed to 700 lbs. year-round. They are then usually shipped to feedyards in the Texas Panhandle or western Oklahoma or Kansas. CPC is well-known among High Plains feedyards for delivering calves that perform well. That's one reason their order buying arm is also successful.

Trial No. 1: Steers 0.24 lb./hd/d
BRIGADE®		Control	Difference
Head Days on Feed	362 34	363 34
Feed consumption lb./hd/d	7.75	7.37	0.38
Pulls	552	616	64
Pulls-costs Chronics Deads Cost of deads	$1,424.12 23 0	$1,531.36 31 6 $1,944.00	$107.24 8 6 $1,944.00
Trial No. 2: Heifers 0.26 lb./hd/d
BRIGADE®		Control	Difference
Head Days on Feed	316 32	315 32
Feed consumption lb./hd/d	11.38	10.75	1.08
Pulls	480	572	92
Pulls-Costs Deads Cost of deads	$1,172.48 2 $585.00	$1,403.00 5 $1,462.50	$230.52 3 $877.50
Trial No. 3: Steers 0.28 lb./hd/d
BRIGADE®		Control	Difference
Head Days on Feed	361 26	361 26
Feed consumption lb./hd/d	9.32	8.20	1.12
Pulls	636	675	39
Pulls-costs Chronics Deads Cost of deads	$1,587.32 7 7 $2,268.00	$1,754.58 9 10 $3,240.00	$167.28 2 3 $972.00

Getting the highly stressed calves to perform well on feed can be a chore. Keeping pulls to a minimum and death loss under 2% requires an extensive starter program and overall nutritional program.

When they arrive, calves receive prairie hay, fresh water, and are processed to hopefully prevent bovine respiratory disease (BRD) and other health problems. Processing includes an implant to help initiate better gains. Calves are then placed in 50-100 acre pastures. The stocking rate is five animals per-acre, with a typical pasture holding 250-500 calves. Each pasture has feed bunks and water troughs. "It's a must to make sure calves have access to clean water at all times," notes Pedigo.

A starter ration is made available immediately. "After about 10 days we start adding medication to the ration," says Brian Celsor. Medication includes antibiotics and other treatments to maintain control of BRD and other health problems. After about 20 days, calves go on a higher energy grower ration that's about 50% corn.

As with all stressed calves, the first 30 days away from mamma and in a new environment can be the toughest. CPC uses an extensive pull program to spot and treat sick calves. "We pull early and pull deep to catch sick animals before its too late," says Brian. Two, two-person pull teams check pens daily using four-wheelers. They look for runny eyes and runny noses. Pulled calves receive up to four vaccinations to knock out health problems - all within a week to 10-day period.

The Celsors and Pedigo thought they were doing all they could to hold health problems and pulls to a minimum on starter calves. Introduction of the CRYSTALYX® low-moisture block supplement to their program, with substantial testing in several pastures, changed their minds.

Kirby Roberts, with Agri Dealers Supply Co. of Louisville, Ky., suggested they conduct a trial using the free-choice CRYSTALYX® BRIGADE® supplement. "We conducted a trial in which we put out the first supplement in late spring," says Pedigo. "Barrels were placed in a pasture containing 362 steers. We compared the results of the first 34 days of those calves to 363 other calves in a similar pasture, but without the BRIGADE® (supplement)."

Trial data: In this CPC trial (see table), all calves were bought from the same location and received the same processing. The BRIGADE®-supplemented calves consumed .24 lb. of the supplement per day for the 34-day receiving period.

After 34 days in the starter program, there were 64 fewer pulls from the pasture containing BRIGADE®. There were eight fewer chronics. And there were no deaths among the BRIGADE® group, compared to six from the control group. The reduction in deaths alone saved CPC nearly $2,000.

"The cattle went to the BRIGADE® right away," says Pedigo. "We can't get cattle to go to feed that quick. We had fewer non-doers, their hair was shinier and fuller and calves were definitely eating more the first 30 or so days."

A second trial (see table) involved 316 heifers on supplement and 315 heifers in a control group. Within the supplement group, there were 92 fewer pulls and three fewer deaths. The third trial (see table), with 361 steers on supplement and 361 in the control group, showed 39 fewer pulls, two fewer chronics and three fewer deaths.

"In the first trial we had from five to 15 fewer pulls each day from pastures with the BRIGADE® supplement," says Pedigo, adding that he sees best results by placing barrels near the feed bunks. "Also, all trials showed that calves on the supplement were eating more. After seeing the results of the trials, we're convinced that the supplement is a tool we can use to reduce pulls, lower death loss and increase consumption."

The Celsors and Pedigo are also testing a second supplement program for use after the initial starter period. BEEF-LYX®, another CRYSTALYX® Supplement, also has added nutrients designed to help boost a 120-130-day backgrounding program. "We're doing several trials with this supplement," says Marshall Celsor. "It looks pretty good early on, but we'll gather a lot of information to determine if it is right for our program."

There are 15 different CRYSTALYX® beef supplements for use in grazing, breeding, stocker, backgrounding and feeding programs. For further research and other information on BRIGADE®, the complete line of CRYSTALYX® formulations and their availability in your area, visit the web site at www.crystalyx.com. or call 1-800-727-2502.