Antler biochar

I went kayaking with a guy a few years ago.  He was in a canoe.  He picked up some elk antlers and gave them to me at the takeout because he knew I had kids. They thought it was cool, but when we brought it into the house, it stunk up the house, which surprised me. I left them in the yard.  They're adults now, and not so fascinated by them.  A couple of days ago, I burned biochar.  I am used to putting some bones in there. I've read research that a small percentage of bones is good for the biochar. So I thought-why not put the antlers in there?

I did and it seemed to work out well. They were very much larger than chicken bones, which is what we normally have, but otherwise,  very much like bones.  I am neither a chemist nor a biologist, but I guessed that antlers are made of similar stuff to bones.  Is there any reason why I wouldn't add antlers to a biochar burn?

Thanks,
John S
PDX OR

Hey John, I can't see any reason that wouldn't work great.  The only reason I wouldn't do it is because elk antler sheds here sell for $1000 to $2000 a set :)

Yep, antlers are pretty much the same stuff as bones: hydroxyapatite and various proteins. A random interesting thing I read is that growing antlers have some traits in common with cancer, and since deer have to manage the antler growth they are also better equipped to deal with cancer. I think it said that the cancer frequency of deer is just 20% of that of other mammals of similar size...

Trace Oswald wrote:The only reason I wouldn't do it is because elk antler sheds here sell for $1000 to $2000 a set :)

Whoa! I knew some people hunted antlers to sell, but not that they sold for that much... You wouldn't happen to know if there's a market for them on this (eastern) side of the Atlantic?

Eino Kenttä wrote:
Whoa! I knew some people hunted antlers to sell, but not that they sold for that much... You wouldn't happen to know if there's a market for them on this (eastern) side of the Atlantic?

Sorry, no idea.

Trace Oswald wrote:Hey John, I can't see any reason that wouldn't work great.  The only reason I wouldn't do it is because elk antler sheds here sell for $1000 to $2000 a set :)

I'm a bit surprised that they're worth that much, but I take your word for it. It's unusual to find the deer ones - apparently many small creatures like mice etc, eat the antlers that get dropped.

That said, I can think up lots of great uses for deer antlers, so I would tend to upcycle at least parts of them. I've seen some nifty door handles made out of them as one example.

Shed antlers are valuable enough that "Shed Hunting"dogs are a thing.

I suspect people want naturally shed antlers because the animal has not been harmed. It fits their aesthetic preference, and that's fine.

I have also been given a rack antlers from a fresh kill, with a chunk of skull attached. Looking at these I think it would be pretty easy for an unscrupulous actor to free each antler from its bone casing and sell it as "naturally shed." I'm not advocating this, but I think people should be wary.