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What is deer antler velvet?
Deer antler velvet is the soft, growing stage of a deer's antler, harvested before it hardens into bone. It's been part of East Asian traditional practice for more than 2,000 years, and today it's a common supplement among people who train.
Key points
- Velvet is the antler while it's still growing, covered in fine, soft hair that looks like velvet.
- It's harvested in late spring and summer, before the antler calcifies. Antlers regrow every year.
- New Zealand is the world's largest producer of deer velvet, under veterinary-supervised harvest rules.
- Velvet naturally contains proteins, amino acids, collagen, glycosaminoglycans such as chondroitin, and minerals such as calcium and phosphorus.
- It's sold as sprays, capsules, powders and tinctures. BIOANTLER™ is a spray.
Where deer antler velvet comes from
Male deer and elk grow a new set of antlers every year and shed them every winter. While an antler is growing, it's soft tissue with a blood supply, covered in a short, fine coat that looks like velvet. That's where the name comes from.
After roughly 60 days of growth, the antler starts to calcify and turns into hard bone. Velvet is harvested before that happens. Because antlers regrow every year, the same animal produces velvet season after season.
How it's harvested
Most of the world's deer velvet comes from farmed red deer and elk. New Zealand is the largest producer, and its industry runs a regulated program that requires velvet removal to be done by, or under the supervision of, a veterinarian or trained, certified farmer, with pain relief for the animal. After harvest, velvet is cleaned, dried and processed into extract or powder.
That describes the industry in general. BIOANTLER's own sourcing, extract and testing details will be published with the final Supplement Facts panel before orders open.
When any deer antler velvet product talks about sourcing, these are the questions worth asking: what country it's from, what part of the antler is used, and how the extract is made.
What's in deer antler velvet
Velvet is growing tissue, so it contains the building blocks that growing tissue needs. Published analyses describe it as containing:
- Proteins and amino acids, including collagen
- Glycosaminoglycans, such as chondroitin sulfate
- Minerals, including calcium, phosphorus and magnesium
- Lipids and phospholipids
- Naturally occurring growth factors in trace amounts
The exact makeup varies with the species of deer, the section of the antler and how the velvet is processed.
A long history of use
Velvet antler has been part of traditional Chinese, Korean and broader East Asian practice for more than 2,000 years, where it was valued as a general tonic. In the West, it gained attention in the 2000s and 2010s, largely through sport.
Tradition isn't the same as clinical proof, and we try to be clear about the difference. Our page on deer antler velvet benefits covers what people use it for and what the research does and doesn't show.
How people take it
Deer antler velvet is sold as sprays, capsules, powders and liquid tinctures. Sprays are taken under the tongue; capsules and powders are swallowed. We make one product, a spray. You can read why on our spray vs. capsules page, or see how to use deer antler spray.
Questions
Is deer antler velvet the same as deer antler?
Not quite. Velvet is the antler while it's still growing and soft. Once it hardens into bone, it's no longer velvet.
Does harvesting velvet hurt the deer?
In regulated programs such as New Zealand's, removal is done under veterinary supervision with pain relief, and the antler grows back the following year.
Is deer antler velvet vegetarian?
No. It's an animal-derived product.