Nah it aint that bad of a deal to get into.  The groceries are what kill you though.  Depends on the price of your feed program.  If you are just gonna kill them don't even bother with the solids buy the broken and gummers pay attention to bags closely when buying but experience is key it doesn't take a very good bag to get a calf going.  Most guys are too hands on give that calf 24hrs before you make a decision to "help" of course depends on weather and the calf.  If its a go getter calf and decent weather coke bottle tits are not a problem.  Hard birth, crappy calf or unseasonably cold better get "hands on" after a bit of "eyes on".  And remember once you start helping its more difficult to stop helping FYI.  Around here the older cows are killer price (sometimes less if your mental calculator is fast enough) especially if a little thinner and will 99 times out of 100 calve without assistance.  I will check them every 8 hrs just to take care of the WTF deals.  From my experience if your gonna feed cows the old ones know how to put weight on way faster than the young ones.  Something like basking in glow of someone actually giving them enough feed to eat.  Pretty good deal to master not a money maker every year and normally not huge on margin.  Keep death loss low and feed cheap it works well.