For farmers who breed sika deer, antler is a very important source of income. Many farmers even breed sika deer just to obtain antler.

So for deer, do they feel pain when humans saw off their antlers?

Deer antlers

Deer antlers are deer antlers that have not yet been boned. The antlers of sika deer stags will start to grow from May to June every year. By August, the antlers have calcified and grown into antlers. The ones with medicinal value are the antlers, and the antlers have no medicinal value.

Deer antlers can grow at a rate of 1.2 centimeters per day. Farmers who breed sika deer will harvest the antlers around 60 days after they grow. At this time, the antler has the highest nutritional value and the best properties, with only two branches. , so it is called two-bar antler; if there are three branches, it is called three-bar antler. At this time, the quality of the antler will decline, and the purchase price will be lower.

But there is a problem with taking velvet antler at this time, that is, velvet antler contains rich blood vessels, so the deer will be very painful when harvesting velvet antlers. In order to alleviate the pain of the sika deer, farmers will inject an anesthetic into the sika deer before removing the antlers.

The dose of anesthetic is not large, but it only takes about 10 minutes for the sika deer to lose consciousness. At this time, experienced farmers will cover the sika deer's eyes, firstly because the sika deer will resist when seeing the light, and secondly, to prevent dust from entering the sika deer's eyes during the operation.

After the sika deer loses consciousness, the farmer will put a bucket under the antler of the sika deer, and then cut off the antler with a knife or saw. At this time, the sika deer will bleed from the place where it was cut, but the blood will flow to It is collected in buckets placed by farmers in advance.

People will place the harvested deer antlers upside down because the deer antlers also contain blood. Turning the deer antlers upside down can prevent the blood from flowing outside, which greatly reduces the nutritional value.

People will bandage and apply medicine to the sika deer after harvesting to prevent the sika deer from being infected and prevent excessive blood loss from affecting the body.

After the harvested antler is processed again, it becomes the velvet antler slices we often see on the market. However, different harvesting seasons, different ages of deer, etc. will affect the quality of velvet antler. If you want high-quality antler, it is best to know more about this information.

Is harvesting antlers good for deer?

Although the process of harvesting antler is bloody, it does not actually cause any harm to the sika deer, because even if humans do not harvest the antlers, the antlers of the sika deer will fall off every year.

A foreigner once photographed a deer running in the wild and discovered that the deer lost an antler while running. After posting it online, I realized that this phenomenon is very common.

In fact, harvesting velvet antlers has certain benefits for deer, that is, excessively large antlers will prevent them from eating. Antlers will continue to get larger as they grow, and overly large antlers will increase the weight of the deer's head, making it take longer for them to lower their heads to eat each time than other similar animals.

In addition, the presence of antlers puts the deer at risk. On the African savanna, when some deer species compete for mating rights, male deer will attack each other with their antlers. However, during the attack, the antlers of both sides may become entangled and cannot be untangled.

At this time, the two deer will become delicacies for large carnivores such as hyenas and lions. Someone once photographed two deer entangled together. Because they could not be untangled, the other deer watched helplessly. Watching the other person being eaten step by step.

The role of antlers in deer

In fact, antlers are not necessary for deer. The main role of antlers in deer is courtship. There are many ways for humans to court mates, such as appearance, height, talent, wealth, etc. However, deer's courtship methods are relatively simple. Female deer will choose the one with larger horns as a mate.

If the antlers of two stags are about the same size, they will fight. During the fight, they will attack each other with their antlers. In the wild, stags are often injured because of this, even two stags. The deer's antlers crossed during the fight, killing both deer.

This happens not only to deer, but also to horned animals such as bison and antelope.

In the wild, once injured or the horn is caught by other animals or plants, the risk of death will increase.

In a breeding environment, in order to reduce deer casualties and increase income, farmers will harvest deer antlers every year when they grow to 60 days old. Although the harvesting process is painful, it is In fact, it has almost no impact on the physical health of deer

Summary

The harvesting of sika deer actually has no impact on their health, but the process of harvesting antler is very painful. Fortunately, we now have anesthesia Technology allows you to harvest deer antlers while ensuring the safety of the deer.

Sika deer can survive without antlers. The only thing that affects them is courtship. However, in artificial environments, mating of sika deer is generally controlled by humans and does not require same-sex competition.