Bringing calves home from the auction barn is always a gamble, but Riley Denning has found a tool to make backgrounding calves less stressful—BRIGADE^® by CRYSTALYX^®.

The steers came in at 575 pounds and went right to the CRYSTALYX^®. Denning had figured the BRIGADE^® would cost him 10 to 11 cents per head per day, and early consumption made that prediction look like a reality. But after 45 to 60 days, the calves seemed to fill up the nutritional crevices in their system and consumption slowed down. When all was said and done, his CRYSTALYX^® cost was just 4 to 5 cents a day. He put out one, 250-pound barrel for every 25 head of calves.

Denning also got a return from BRIGADE^® in the form of lower herd health costs. He didn’t lose a single calf over the winter. He had absolutely no foot rot, no coccidiosis. He never doctored a single case of pinkeye—and usually he treats a handful of bad eyes each winter.

While the improved herd health was the most noticeable advantage to feeding BRIGADE^®, the benefits also paid off in the show ring when the calves were sold at 800 pounds. “Their eyes were bright, they had shiny coats. They sold themselves,” he says. “I will definitely use BRIGADE^® for stressed out calves in the future.”