We are thinking about feeding cotton seed as a protein supplement at our place in South Texas. Any advice anyone could share would be appreciated. TIA.

you're talking about feeding it to deer right?

We feed it to our deer. They do very well on it...we see some really nice bucks. The plus side is there is little waste to varmints or even weather. In that respect, it may dollar out better than protein pellets.

Can someone explain to me how you feed the cotton seed to the deer? Put it in a protien feeder or in wire tubes? Sorry for the rookie question.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357133

I was curious about that also.

Yes, talking about feeding it to deer out of wire tubes around a t-post. We were planning on putting it in our feed pens where our corn feeders are to keep the cows and hogs off of it.

trip said:

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Can someone explain to me how you feed the cotton seed to the deer? Put it in a protien feeder or in wire tubes? Sorry for the rookie question.

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Drive some t-posts in the ground fairly close to each other and then wrap some net wire around them making a cylindrical shape. Fill cylinder with cotton seed.

Brush Country Ag said:

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We feed it to our deer. They do very well on it...we see some really nice bucks. The plus side is there is little waste to varmints or even weather. In that respect, it may dollar out better than protein pellets.

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. Good point on the other critters not really liking it. We fed a bunch in Brackettville a few years back, and had a few problems with something similar to founder in some deer.

B-1 83 said:

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Brush Country Ag said:

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We feed it to our deer. They do very well on it...we see some really nice bucks. The plus side is there is little waste to varmints or even weather. In that respect, it may dollar out better than protein pellets.

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. Good point on the other critters not really liking it. We fed a bunch in Brackettville a few years back, and had a few problems with something similar to founder in some deer.

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You think the cottonseed caused the foundering ? We haven't noticed that, but then we start cutting them back in September thru January.

Brush Country Ag said:

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B-1 83 said:

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Brush Country Ag said:

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We feed it to our deer. They do very well on it...we see some really nice bucks. The plus side is there is little waste to varmints or even weather. In that respect, it may dollar out better than protein pellets.

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. Good point on the other critters not really liking it. We fed a bunch in Brackettville a few years back, and had a few problems with something similar to founder in some deer.

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You think the cottonseed caused the foundering ? We haven't noticed that, but then we start cutting them back in September thru January.

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A local vet sure thought so. As I recall it was a dry year and they started eating quite a bit

Will be on the lookout for that . We do have a dry year here every now and then !!

Just want to ask how you can get deer started on Cotton seeds. Just basket them up and let the deer eventually find them?

They will find them, trust me. They love it.

Some throw a little corn in the cottonseed ...you are inviting raccoons to tear stuff up. Deer should start on it without too much encouragement.

I think read somewhere that the over consumption of cotton seeds by bucks can cause infertility. I think I also read that it's recommended you only feed cotton seed during the winter & spring months and stop during the summer so that the harmful effects will be done by the time breeding season comes around. I want to say it was a publication by TAMU-Kingsville. I'm sure it's still on the web. Wouldn't want the population of deer to be harmed IMHO.

I read that one should stop feeding cotton seed a month before the rut. If i recall right, the article also said that wild deer will eat other things besides just cotton seed and that it wouldn't have near as much an effect on them as pen raised deer, because of the wild deer supplementing their diet with browse, forbs, and corn.

It seems that cotton seed is becoming more and more popular and everyone that I know that uses it swears by it! But be careful, you may end up paying nearly as much as protein at some places. A feed store in Freer that used to practically give it away was charging $13/ bag two weeks ago as apprised to $7/bag last year. Each feeder takes 6-7 bags to fill, so that gets pretty pricey. It's better to find a gin somewhere and just fill the back of your truck up. Maybe since much of the state had a stellar cotton crop it will go back down in $ next year.

Definitely cheaper to buy bulk. It's $12/ 50# bag in Del Rio.