The Relationship between Velvet Antler Weight and Body Weight of Captive Deer in Ramkhamhaeng University Deer Farm

Abstract

The main purpose of deer farming business is velvet antler which deer produce new antlers yearly. Velvet antlers are soft and covered in velvet-like hair. The large, long, big and heavy velvet antlers are the ones with the good price in the market. The purpose of this research was to find out if there was any relationship between velvet antler weight and body weight. The studies were occurred in both captive sika and rusa deer in Ramkhamhaeng University Deer Farm with ages between 3 and older than 8 years old.The results showed that sika deer did not show any relationship between velvet antler weight and body weight no matter what ages they were. On the other hand, rusa deer significantly showed the relationship between velvet antler weight and body weight in every age. The body weight was high, the velvet antler was heavy, the body weight was low, the velvet antler was less heavy, not depending on the age. The data from Ramkhamhaeng University Deer Farm indicated that deer fed with diversities of food produced high quality velvet antlers. These results may be explained that the physiological mechanism of rusa deer which are native to tropical region responds to food better than sika deer which are native to temperate region.