What is Deer Velvet Antler?

Deer velvet is the name given to the stags antlers while still in the soft cartilage form before turning to hard antler. After approximately 8-10 weeks, the velvet antlers have reached their full size and the cartilage calcifies into very hard bone.  The stag rubs its new antlers against a tree to strip away the covering skin, revealing the sharp 'tynes' or points that are used as dangerous weapons in the mating season. 

Deer Antlers will naturally fall off every year to make room for the new antlers to grow.  At the Gloriavale Deer Park, the antlers are painlessly removed by qualified veterinarians and used in highly valued health tonics and supplements.  This also helps to protect the stags and their handlers over the mating season.

The remarkable growth rate of the animal's antlers is unique in nature and still remains a primary point of intrigue for scientists.  In a matter of 8 weeks, a stag can grow up to 8 or even 10 kilograms of antler cartilage.  Sometimes the antler can grow half an inch in a single day! 

Another amazing fact is that over the 8 weeks of antler growth a stag may loose as much as 30% of the calcium from its bones.  All of this is replaced in the next 2-3 months following.  How the stag manages to do this remains a mystery but New Zealand scientists believe that if we could somehow capture this mechanism, it may hold the secret for regrowing cartilage, muscle and bone tissue in humans. 

For use as a premium health supplement or tonic the velvet must be harvested when it is still in its actively growing stage, before calcification begins. This is usually at the half grown stage just before the development of the top dagger tynes, at between 60-65 days growth.