feeding whole cotton seed

[jbar]

a freind of mine works for a co. that services all the cotton ginns in my area. and some of the whole cotton seed they had stored caught on fire.they where going to through alot of it away so he got me a couple of ton. but i dont know how much to feed. i am going to feed it to bred cows mainly.i do have some 600# that i could feed it to. on the cows thought id start with 4# per head a day.the 600#ers are getting 4# of a 12% mix that a local feed lot uses not sure whats in it but it works cost is $195 a ton just thought of adding the cotton seed would cheepen it up.

 

[R.T.]

We try and feed about 5 pounds per day to 900 to 1000 pound cows.
Some feed more without any problems. We feed every 2 days using
front loader into feed bunks, this way some get a bit more than others,
but we have done this for many years. If pastures are grazed down we
also use liquid lick tanks with the cotten seed.

 

[Flacowman]

We feed 5# per head per day using a gravity flow wagon and my arm up in it and have never had problems. Fed it to cows at all stages of pregnancy and with calves. It's great if your grazing fails or you run out of hay/ need to stretch it out a bit.

 

[TexasBred]

You literally can't make a feed as good as whole cottonseed. If you're cattle will eat it I would not supplement with anything else. And 4-5 lbs. per head per day will work great. Longterm feeding to bulls can cause temporary sterility and I would also have it checked at a reputable lab to make sure aflatoxin levels are satisfactory.

 

[alabama]

I fed cows 5 to 7 pounds a day cottonseed in the winter back when it was $70 to $100 a ton and it worked great. Now it is in the range of $200 a ton and I can find other suplements cheaper that you don;t have to handle by hand.

 

[Caustic Burno]

a freind of mine works for a co. that services all the cotton ginns in my area. and some of the whole cotton seed they had stored caught on fire.they where going to through alot of it away so he got me a couple of ton. but i dont know how much to feed. i am going to feed it to bred cows mainly.i do have some 600# that i could feed it to. on the cows thought id start with 4# per head a day.the 600#ers are getting 4# of a 12% mix that a local feed lot uses not sure whats in it but it works cost is $195 a ton just thought of adding the cotton seed would cheepen it up.

Don't go crazy with cottonseed can cause you some serious heartache, its good feed but it has hazards as well.
http://cahfs.ucdavis.edu/disease_pdfs/cattle.pdf

 

[jbar]

thanks for info everyone. i am feeding the cotton seed(4lbs/day) to some broken mouth cows to put a little condion on them before selling. sold my 6 weights. and can replace them easily at a profit. the market is great.