Receiving protocol... I'll keep it pretty general. I've signed some interesting confidentiality paperwork that makes it so I can have opinions but can't talk about them.
Still, most of the differences between brands or combinations are small percentage points that are financially important in large groups, not so much in a little 30-head group.
The important points on a high risk group of calves:
Modified-live BVD/IBR vaccination - e.g. Bovishield Gold, Triangle 5, Titanium, Pyramid, etc.
Clostridial vaccination - C&D and/or 7-way or 8-way
Tetanus vaccination if banding
+/- Pasturella/Mannhaemia vaccination - e.g. NuPlura, Presponse
+/- Intranasal BVD/IBR vaccine - e.g. Inforce3
Deworming - oral, injectable and/or pour-on e.g. Valbazen, Dectomax, Ivomec Plus, etc. Most important parasites to watch for are probably haemonchus, lungworms, and flukes.
Castration - bulls have twice the morbidity (sickness) of steers, get rid of those testicles ASAP.
Dehorning - not really important. If you do dehorn, either tip the horns short enough they don't bleed, or take the entire horn off and appropriately pull vessels or cauterize. Anemia is a major stressor on the new calves too; letting them lose a few liters of blood (remember there's antibodies in that blood too!) and then expecting them to fight off disease is not a smart management strategy.
Antibiotics - mass medication (metaphylaxis) will cut the morbidity in half and mortality by about 40-50%. I hear the comments about antibiotic resistance... but in ultra high risk lots it's almost a welfare issue if you don't. Some people temp and treat - temp everything, treat any animals over 104F at arrival. Some just treat every animal. Implement a moratorium and leave the calves alone. Depending on the antibiotic, most people assign 7-14 days for Draxxin, 5 for Micotil, 3-5 for Nuflor, 3 for LA200, 3-5 for Baytril, 3-5 for Excede, etc. Check the pens daily and pull calves at the end of the moratorium and retreat as needed.
+/- minerals and vitamins - e.g. Multimin, Bo-Se, Mu-Se, Vit A/D/E
Process them as soon as possible after arrival, <24 hours preferably. Calves shipped long distances (e.g. 12, 18, 30 hours) will need a certain amount of time to rest and drink; this is not as big a concern on cattle coming a short distance from a local sale barn. Do keep in mind that if they've been at the sale all day without water they should get a few minutes to drink before getting processed.
Clean water available, let the tank/waterer overflow if necessary to show them where to drink.
Handle them right at processing - I've nothing against hotshots but let's use them intelligently. Cattle bunched up in the corner, bouncing off fences, hitting the headgate at top speed, etc isn't necessary and unneeded stress on the animals. Any monkey can make cattle move fast, it takes skill to run them smooth and quiet through the facilities.
Feed available with a significant amount of hay for rumen function. (In feedlots our starting ration is 40-60% hay, backgrounders are going to feed far more hay.) Get them up to eating 2% of their body weight in good quality feed as quickly as possible. It'll usually take 1-2 weeks but the sooner it happens the better off the calves are. In the feedlot they'll eat 3.5-4.5% of their body weight after a few weeks in the yard, esp light weight calves.
Manage feed fluctuations - not a total amount per animal but a percentage of the diet. If you're feeding, say, 15 lbs of hay and 5 lbs of corn, that corn makes up 25% of their diet. If a calf eats 12 lbs of hay and 3 lbs of corn they're still getting the same percentages. Down on intake but still same percent. If they eat 10lbs of corn and 10 lbs of hay, that's 50% of the diet and now the rumen bugs are going to get screwed up. On a feedlot we'd mix the ration so they can't sort. At least put out grain in a way that calves aren't gorging themselves or significantly changing the % of their diet on a daily basis.
Adequate pen space and bunk space. Need about 18" per animal if everyone is at the bunk at once, I think. Most people will have feed available at all times and give them about 10" of space on calves. Pen space, about 200-300 square feet per animal (more is fine too). For 30 head that's about 9000 square feet or a 90 x 100 ft pen minimum.
Does that answer your question Cross?