Abstract: Cottonseed meal, the light red and yellow granular articles, is obtained from cottonseed by processing technics of press and extraction. The crude protein content of cottonseed meal is second only to soybean meal and reaches above 40%. Accordingly, cottonseed meal is one of the good resources of plant protein and is widely applied in livestock breeding industry as feedstuff. However, there are a series of anti-nutritional factors in cottonseed meal, including free gossypol, tannin, phytic acid, cyclopropane fatty acid, etc. These anti-nutritional factors show toxic effect to animals, which constricts the application of cottonseed meal in animals production. With the goal of providing references for the rational application of cottonseed meal in animal production, we reviewed the nutritional composition of cottonseed meal and its application in poultry and animal production.