Well-fed farm animals reach a threshold body weight early and begin pedicle and antler growth in the middle of the first winter. In the following discussions, one must make the distinction between the pedicle and the antler because they have some important differences in physiology and anatomy.Īntler pedicles are initiated on the frontal bone of the skull under the influence of testosterone and begin to grow in males at three to seven months of age. They are permanent features of the skull that remain after the antler is cast-off every spring. The pedicles are the perennial source of the regenerating antler. The skin is covered by short hairs growing at right angles to the surface and the whole antler often has a greasy feel from sebaceous gland secretions.Īntlers grow from protrusions of the frontal bone called pedicles ”. The skin surface covering the antler is variable in colour and often very dark black or dark brown in red deer and a distinctive light orange-brown, grey, or black in elk. Velvet antler is an actively growing, cartilaginous tissue, which is supplied with a complex vascular and nervous system. The finished antler product from elk is therefore often referred to as "elk velvet antler" (EVA). It is at this growth stage that the entire antler is harvested for drying and use in pharmaceutical preparations. Frequently "velvet" and "velvet antler" are used interchangeably to refer to the antler in its growth phase. At this stage, it is soft and lacks the mineralized characteristics of "hard antler" which is nothing less than bone. "Velvet antler" refers to the entire antler when it is in the growth phase. It describes the fuzzy texture provided by many fine hairs growing on the surface. Strictly speaking, the term "velvet" refers to the skin covering a growing antler. ![]() ![]() There is considerable market potential in these and western countries with the recognition that the pharmacological and bioactive properties of prepared soft, or velvet antler, are real and diverse in many therapeutic and tonic medicinal applications. Antlers and antler harvest form the basis of traditional deer farming industries in China, Korea and Russia.
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