Cotton seed & infertile bull

[circlew]

I have been told that if a bull eats cotton seed they will temporally become infertile. Anyone know anything about this?
Thanks

 

[Kingfisher]

I would not feed a good Bull cotton seed near or during breeding season. It's just cheap filler. I don't know about making em not perform....

 

[dun]

I don;t remember what the fancy name is for the stuff in whole cottonseed that causes it but yes it will cause temp infertility if enough (too much) is eaten. Gossipol maybe?

 

[Jogeephus]

21-34% crude protein isn't filler. Gin trash is cheap filler. Its free.

 

[wbvs58]

It is Gossipol, it think it has been used in human trials as a male contraceptive pill. I have never been able to find how much cottonseed would affect a bull, but when joining, you want the magazine full and loaded with live rounds.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I don;t remember what the fancy name is for the stuff in whole cottonseed that causes it but yes it will cause temp infertility if enough (too much) is eaten. Gossipol maybe?

I don't know if the spelling is correct but it is something like that, it can cause infertility and heart problems.

Found it.

Gossypol Toxicity
A major constraint to the use of high levels of cottonseed in the diets of livestock is the presence of a toxic substance in the seed called gossypol. Gossypol is a yellow pigment occurring in the pigment glands scattered throughout the seed. Like many toxins present in plants, gossypol serves an important function by protecting the cotton plant against insects and pests. The gossypol is toxic to them, reducing their appetite for the cotton plants and thus serving as a natural insecticide. Glandless cotton (cotton without gossypol) requires excessive use of pesticides for plant protection. To protect our environment, we certainly do not want to breed plants that require more chemical pesticide protection. However, a plant breeding program is underway to develop a line of cotton that has gossypol in the plant but not in the seed.

Cottonseed meal is not fed to poultry because the gossypol causes the egg yolks to turn olive green, after a reasonable storage time.

High levels of consumption of gossypol from whole cottonseed or cottonseed meal can cause reduced growth and feed intake. Over a prolonged period, it causes damage to the heart, liver and lungs resulting in cardiac irregularity, cardiac failure (heart attack), pulmonary edema, and labored breathing. High levels of gossypol can also cause anemia by tying up available iron in the diet.

 

[TexasBred]

I don;t remember what the fancy name is for the stuff in whole cottonseed that causes it but yes it will cause temp infertility if enough (too much) is eaten. Gossipol maybe?

I don't know if the spelling is correct but it is something like that, it can cause infertility and heart problems.

Found it.

Gossypol Toxicity
A major constraint to the use of high levels of cottonseed in the diets of livestock is the presence of a toxic substance in the seed called gossypol. Gossypol is a yellow pigment occurring in the pigment glands scattered throughout the seed. Like many toxins present in plants, gossypol serves an important function by protecting the cotton plant against insects and pests. The gossypol is toxic to them, reducing their appetite for the cotton plants and thus serving as a natural insecticide. Glandless cotton (cotton without gossypol) requires excessive use of pesticides for plant protection. To protect our environment, we certainly do not want to breed plants that require more chemical pesticide protection. However, a plant breeding program is underway to develop a line of cotton that has gossypol in the plant but not in the seed.

Cottonseed meal is not fed to poultry because the gossypol causes the egg yolks to turn olive green, after a reasonable storage time.

High levels of consumption of gossypol from whole cottonseed or cottonseed meal can cause reduced growth and feed intake. Over a prolonged period, it causes damage to the heart, liver and lungs resulting in cardiac irregularity, cardiac failure (heart attack), pulmonary edema, and labored breathing. High levels of gossypol can also cause anemia by tying up available iron in the diet.

That's the culprit CB and yes it can cause temporary sterility. Most often occurs in dairy bulls where cottonseed is feed heavily (4-6 lbs. per day) over long periods of time....Kingfisher, whole cottonseed is one of THE most complete feeds you can put in a cow...high protein, high fat, high fiber, highly digestible and much higher in energy than even corn. Only drawback is that you do have to limit the intake due to possible gossypol poisoning but you get more bang for your buck than with any other feed you can buy.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Didn't mean to make cottonseed sound evil as I have used it many times when I needed to supplement hay or whatever, it is great feed. It just need to be fed with a salt limiter if you can not limit the intake. It is like eating acorns some just get addicted to it like crack will eat the stuff until they kill themselves..

 

[Kingfisher]

Kingfisher, whole cottonseed is one of THE most complete feeds you can put in a cow...high protein, high fat, high fiber, highly digestible and much higher in energy than even corn. Only drawback is that you do have to limit the intake due to possible gossypol poisoning but you get more bang for your buck than with any other feed you can buy.

Yea I kind tossed that remark out there knowing it was prolly wrong. Thanks for straightening me out. I wonder how many have access to whole cottonseed in their markets?

 

[Jogeephus]

Its widely used here. We also have a plant that pelletizes it so it can be mixed more easily in feed rations. I think they call it fuzzy pellets or something like that. Too rich for my blood though. I prefer the trash.

 

[TexasBred]

Kingfisher, whole cottonseed is one of THE most complete feeds you can put in a cow...high protein, high fat, high fiber, highly digestible and much higher in energy than even corn. Only drawback is that you do have to limit the intake due to possible gossypol poisoning but you get more bang for your buck than with any other feed you can buy.

Yea I kind tossed that remark out there knowing it was prolly wrong. Thanks for straightening me out. I wonder how many have access to whole cottonseed in their markets?

Brokers ship it all over the country IF you can handle a truckload at a time. Here in Texas it comes from Lubbock as well every little local gin in the state and nearly all the southern states.....Whole cottonseed is a great product.

 

[TexasBred]

Its widely used here. We also have a plant that pelletizes it so it can be mixed more easily in feed rations. I think they call it fuzzy pellets or something like that. Too rich for my blood though. I prefer the trash.

Jogee there are what they call "Easy-Flo" cottonseed. They spray fuzzy seed with a starch like solution which makes the fuzz flatten around the seed....not only will it mix better but can also be stored in overhead bins and will flo out if the bins unlike regular fuzzy seed which tend to bridge up and not flow nor mix well.

 

[papavillars]

I bought a truckload in the fall of 2009. My herd loved it. it was cheap and kept a good frame on my cattle. All cows calved on schedule last year. I cannot say the same for this year when I was not able to purchase the whole cotton seed.

 

[Jogeephus]

Its widely used here. We also have a plant that pelletizes it so it can be mixed more easily in feed rations. I think they call it fuzzy pellets or something like that. Too rich for my blood though. I prefer the trash.

Jogee there are what they call "Easy-Flo" cottonseed. They spray fuzzy seed with a starch like solution which makes the fuzz flatten around the seed....not only will it mix better but can also be stored in overhead bins and will flo out if the bins unlike regular fuzzy seed which tend to bridge up and not flow nor mix well.

I think they do that too but this, I think is different and is most likely a play on words for marketing. I was real excited when they moved in cause I thought I could bargain a good deal but unfortunately I was probably a gnat to them and I could buy alternatives cheaper elsewhere. Here are their products and their web site. Its a heck of an operation.

http://www.chickashaofgeorgia.com/services.htm

 

[TexasBred]

Looks like a big oil mill....probably smells good around there too. lol....have used some of hte mechanically delinted seed years ago but never seen the pellets. Would love to see a sample. Delinted work ok but I prefer the fuzzy seed. You'll get more seed to the pound with the delinted but you also have a higher percentage of the seeds pass thru the cow undigested. Still good products tho.

 

[circlew]

This my first time feeding cotton seed. I like what I am seeing tho. I've been feeding it for a week and I can already see a big jump in milk production for my mommas. I will feed it again.

 

[TexasBred]

This my first time feeding cotton seed. I like what I am seeing tho. I've been feeding it for a week and I can already see a big jump in milk production for my mommas. I will feed it again.

Higher quality milk too.... :clap:

 

[Kingfisher]

Its widely used here. We also have a plant that pelletizes it so it can be mixed more easily in feed rations. I think they call it fuzzy pellets or something like that. Too rich for my blood though. I prefer the trash.

Jogee there are what they call "Easy-Flo" cottonseed. They spray fuzzy seed with a starch like solution which makes the fuzz flatten around the seed....not only will it mix better but can also be stored in overhead bins and will flo out if the bins unlike regular fuzzy seed which tend to bridge up and not flow nor mix well.

I think they do that too but this, I think is different and is most likely a play on words for marketing. I was real excited when they moved in cause I thought I could bargain a good deal but unfortunately I was probably a gnat to them and I could buy alternatives cheaper elsewhere. Here are their products and their web site. Its a heck of an operation.

http://www.chickashaofgeorgia.com/services.htm

Thanks for this post and your link. More to read and study it looks like.......... Thanks.

 

[Kingfisher]

This my first time feeding cotton seed. I like what I am seeing tho. I've been feeding it for a week and I can already see a big jump in milk production for my mommas. I will feed it again.

Where and in what quantity are you purchasing it? Thanks in advance.

 

[circlew]

Kingfisher: I got mine for the local cotton gin. I bought it by the ton. We have an old 16 ft trailer with side frames on it. The side frames are the same as on a cattle trailer. I got 2 1/2 tons.