Amazon.com Widgets Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

home    archives    subscribe    contribute    consultations   

Cotton seed meal -- safe for horses?

From: Mary

I was looking at some cotton seed meal yesterday. It looked pretty good. Is there a reason we don't feed it to horses? Could we?

I just realized I didn't make myself very clear. I meant can you feed cotton seed meal as an additive? I don't think anyone would want to feed straight 40% protein, a horse might burst into flames. My horse had a small handfull and liked it. Mary


Hi Mary! Cottonseed meal is very high protein -- sometimes even 48%! Horses do like it, and you could feed it instead of soybean meal, but only to mature horses! It's not so great for younger horses, because the protein quality is lower, and there's not much lysine in cottonseed meal (horses need lysine for growth). Another reason NOT to feed cottonseed meal to young horses is the gossypol content -- gossypol toxicosis isn't common in horses, but when it occurs, one of the results can be sudden death with no warning signs.

Most horses enjoy soybean meal, and I would suggest offering THAT as a protein supplement instead of cottonseed meal.

You can get more details from your county extension agent or equine specialist -- a good person to consult about your horse's diet in any case, along with your veterinarian.

- Jessica

Back to top.


Copyright © 1995-2024 by Jessica Jahiel, Holistic Horsemanship®.
All Rights Reserved. Holistic Horsemanship® is a Registered Trademark.

Materials from Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE, The Newsletter of Holistic Horsemanship® may be distributed and copied for personal, non-commercial use provided that all authorship and copyright information, including this notice, is retained. Materials may not be republished in any form without express permission of the author.

Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE is a free, subscriber-supported electronic Q&A email newsletter which deals with all aspects of horses, their management, riding, and training. For more information, please visit www.horse-sense.org

Please visit Jessica Jahiel: Holistic Horsemanship® [www.jessicajahiel.com] for more information on Jessica Jahiel's clinics, video lessons, phone consultations, books, articles, columns, and expert witness and litigation consultant services.