Im interested in possibly trying cotton seed to supplemental feed at my farm. I've called around and done a little research about where to purchase the seed, but most places only sell it by the ton. That is way more than I will be needing since I will only have two feeders and don't really have a place to store the extra seed. I did find one place that sells it in 40lb. sacks, but they want $11 per sack. That seems really expensive to me, but I'm not really sure how much cotton seed 40 lbs. is? Also, does anyone else use cotton seed, how well does it work, and can you give me any suggestions about how much seed I will need and how often I will need to fill feeders? I live in Arlington but hunt in Wilbarger county and have a buddy that hunts around Salado that is wanting to do the same thing. So we both have about a 3 hour drive to get to our respective farms. Any advice or insight would be much appreciated!

It's a little late for this year, but when harvest starts this fall, find a cotton gin and ask to buy some off their seed pile.

If you know someone with a feedlot or dairy that orders it by the ton, they might let you come get a few sacks worth for a reasonable price.

FYI to get the deer to take to it put it somewhere where you also have corn and they will take to it faster. We put a ton out at a time and it lasts a couple of weeks divided between 4 sites.

To add to what MasterAggie said, we start in February and feed monthly thru August. I think we put out 5 tons last season, and we've gone from maybe shooting a 140 class buck to having several 150+ deer taken in just 2 seasons of feeding it. The results are very obvious. The biggest noticeable change is how big our 8 pointers have gotten. Most were in the 120s a couple years back, and now most are 130+.

Maybe I need to do this, only with cotton seed.

https://www.farmshow.com/a_article.php?aid=29520

quote:

---

Instead of selling corn and other grain to an elevator, here's a new way to sell it direct to the public without having to deal with customers. Corn Xpress is a giant vending machine open 24/7 that accepts cash or credit cards.

---

Thanks for all the info. If I plan on building the feeders with V wire and T posts like I've seen online. I imagine it will be about the size of a 55 gallon drum and a little bit taller. Do you think around 150 lbs. of seed will fill it? I've got a fairly healthy deer herd in terms of #'s, how often do you think I will need to fill it after they start coming to it? It's gonna be hard for me to get there more than about once per month during the spring and summer months.

We get it in bulk on the back of our truck and use a pitch folk and put it in some water proof sacks. Pests don't like cotton seed too much because of the gossypol in the cotton seed. We just shovel some into the feeders when we need to since it doesn't flow the best when it still has lint on it.

Cows love it. Best bet is drive up to the gin and talk to them and start calling around September, later as you go north.

Worked for Coop for a while and get all my stuff from their gin still.

The baskets we made with cattle panels hold about 200# each, and we have 2 baskets at each station.

Did you prove it at a cottonseed mill (trying to think if there are any around you) or a feed store? Reason I ask is just because they price it by the ton may not mean you have to buy a ton. If they're handling it in bulk you'll weigh in and weigh out. FF09 is exactly righ, the bed of a truck is an excellent container.

With whole fuzzy cottonseed, and doubly so with hulls, bulk gets you before weight does.

quote:

---

With whole fuzzy cottonseed, and doubly so with hulls, bulk gets you before weight does.

---

About 20 pounds per cubic foot. So a pickup bed of 60 to 75 ft3 volume, would be over 1500 pounds if rounded off on top.

http://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/volume-to-weight

Is that before or after getting in and tramping it? Heck, I may still have some sideboards around here from way back when, the OP could cut them down and he'd be road ready. Maybe get him some mudflaps that say "Don't cry baby, I'll be back".

I kinda popped off there. I forget I can get 700-800 pounds of hulls in a Roundup tote for the show heifers. That's with a lot of work, but doable.

If the bumper is not dragging the ground, you're not trying.

quote:

---

If the bumper is not dragging the ground, you're not trying.

---

Amen.

It's made it this far into the conversation without this thread erupting into a protein feed vs cotton seed argument?

I am shocked.... But popcorn waiting.

find a feed store that blends/sacks their own feeds. They generally will sell it in 50# sacks, as mentioned above. (Producers in BCS probably does if you are near Aggieland)

For a number of reasons we are considering switching to cotton seed, with cost being one of them. i know our average lbs/month of protein pellets. To figure the cost savings of cotton seed over pellets i think i need to estimate (guesstimate) a ratio like:

100 lbs of pellets consumed = X lbs of cotton seed consumed

Does anyone have a guess at what this ratio would look like.

TIA

Any issues with cotton seed and cattle or horses?

We like cotton seed as a supplement on cattle. They will take to it very quickly and is a great protein source for them. We always combine it with adequate hay in the winter and use it as a true supplement.

Lint and all.

I live and farm in West Texas. We harvest our cotton beginning in October and usually running into December. Our Coop Gin delivers approximately 75% of our cottonseed to an oil mill in Lubbock because we are contractually obligated to do so. However, we have several really large seed houses that we store fuzzy cottonseed in for extended periods because we can market it to dairies for higher per ton value. I say this because most gins operate similarly. One would be able to find cottonseed for several more months at many local gins, in west texas at least.

I have fed cottonseed in the past. I like to put a big pile on the ground and dump corn on top of the pile to get deer started on it. It is also relatively cheap this year. I believe we were being advanced $230/ton. It's a great bargain when considering a high protein feed. Much cheaper than feeding protein pellets.

Interested in this.... I've hunted cotton fields but never really envisioned seed as deer feed. Can someone post pics of what bulk seed looks like. I'm confused with lint, hulls, putting in piles. Seems like hogs would tear up piles? Can this go through spin feeder? Thanks!

Neither of these are my images and were found on Google.

Cottonseed after ginning, called 'fuzzy seed' because it hans't been de-linted. Absolutely will NOT go through a spin feeder. Commonly used to feed cattle - and now, deer.



Cottonseed hulls. The protective shell of the cottonseed, usually added to feed for ruminants as roughage



for comparison - this is acid de-linted cottonseed treated and used as planting seed.

I bet I'm one of the few old farts ever to see a saw delinting plant. Before acid delinting, they used another set of gin stands, much like the cotton gin, except with tighter spacing between the saws. Would go through a planter, but not as smoothly as acid delinted. They baled the fuzz, supposedly it went into upholstery.

You're right. You're an old fart.

Closest I've seen to that was when I worked for Continental I had a customer in N. Alabama who was prouder of his motes than just about anything else in the gin. He had an outbuilding that was full of Moss lint cleaners and a couple outdated box presses. He ran motes through 3 ADDITIONAL stages of lint cleaners and baled motes at each stage. I would bet that his some of his product was about the same as you're talking about; upholstery and mattress ticking.

ETA forgot the winkie for calling you an old fart.

I use to work in cotton breeding. We acid delinted everything. Was an interesting job that taught a valuable lesson, "When you are surrounded by sulfuric acid all day, the last thing you want to do is scratch you crotch or a$$." Id be sitting in class and notice the entire crotch of my jeans had been eaten away by the acid from that morning.

Don't worry, I know I'm ancient to you guys. I was in the Corps when it was all male.

Sorry for random bump, but had a quick question on this ...

I found cottonseed hulls in 40lbs. bags for $6.95 each. If i was only doing one feeder, I'd need roughly 200lbs. per 6 feet of v-mesh bullwire?

Watchful Ag said:

---

I found cottonseed hulls in 40lbs. bags for $6.95 each. If i was only doing one feeder, I'd need roughly 200lbs. per 6 feet of v-mesh bullwire?

---

You found hulls or whole cottonseed? I wouldn't think deer would eat just hulls.

Why not try cottonseed meal? Its already packaged in 50 lb bags, and is easily spread or put in some sort of gravity feeder or trough. Dad would mix it with salt as a protein supplement for his cattle herd.

Centerpole90 said:

---

Watchful Ag said:

---

I found cottonseed hulls in 40lbs. bags for $6.95 each. If i was only doing one feeder, I'd need roughly 200lbs. per 6 feet of v-mesh bullwire?

---

You found hulls or whole cottonseed? I wouldn't think deer would eat just hulls.

---

Hulls would be for roughage and nothing else. You won't get much protein or any nutrients. Also, make sure the hulls will have enough lint to stick together in the feeder you are using. We've used hulls in a major drought to keep the cows feeling full, but if your forage options are decent I would think the animals would bipass it as a food choice.

Hulls alone will not do the trick. But man oh man the deer love cotton seed. It is a fantastic supplement. We put them in a wire cage similar to pictured above and saw awesome results over the last 3 years that we fed it in Eagle Pass.

Good catch, and I'm not totally sure. She could've said "whole" instead of "hulls". Hard to tell over the phone. I'll call again tomorrow and get more specific.

Will 200lbs. be too much for one cottonseed feeder?

40lbs @ $7 = $350/Ton

I'll bet it's whole cottonseed because if hulls are going for that then I AM GETTING ROYALLY POKED. Well, more poked than usual anyway.

Hulls usually go in the range of $150/ton in bulk and the last time I saw some in bags it was about the same price. The price fluctuates with the price of whole cottonseed. Hulls won't do what you want, you definitely want WHOLE cottonseed. I've never filled one of those feeders, someone else can give better help there.