Question about Antler Chews

twright1231

twright1231

New member
I picked up two very large (10" long by 1-1/2" diameter) chews at the local farmer's market this weekend. Our two have not had antler chews before. They love them, and the structure of the chews are holding up very well. The marrow portion was dry and rock hard on the ends. As they have been digging out this marrow, it seems it's not so hard anymore. They've carved out up to 3/4 " on each end, and now it's red and fresh, like blood, dripping out.

I need to rinse these off periodically because as they chew, their own hair gets stuck the to outside. I'm sure some water seeped in, but when I ran the hot water into the the chews for three minutes it still does not run out clear.

I've sent the vendor an email and am waiting for a response. Meanwhille I thought I would try to dry them a bit in the oven, but OMG, the smell!!!:uhoh2: I've since put them outside on a very low grill to dry.

Seems like they were not dried well to begin with. Has anyone experienced this? Mike thinks I should toss them. They were a bit pricey though, so it this is normal, I wouldn't trash them.

Thanks!
 
new_2_newf

new_2_newf

New member
Ok, antlers are bone, just a different formation. They will have marrow. Assuming they harvest antlers as they are dropped to the ground naturally, they should be fine. I don't know that they 'dry' them exactly...it would be like drying a bone. You can, but you don't need to, raw is fine.
 
L

lisaperp

New member
Not sure, but I'm wondering if dried antlers would splinter like a cooked bone? I know that dried/cooked bones are a no-no.
 
chumleysma

chumleysma

New member
I gave my dog one antler recently and there was no red looking marrow in it. It was quite clean looking. It did not splinter. Hard to explain, but it kinda' just disintegrated away in the areas he worked on. He loved it. Too expensive to buy another though.
 
twright1231

twright1231

New member
chumleysma said:
I gave my dog one antler recently and there was no red looking marrow in it. It was quite clean looking. It did not splinter. Hard to explain, but it kinda' just disintegrated away in the areas he worked on. He loved it. Too expensive to buy another though.
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That's what I expected. No red marrow and clean. I did not get that. The blood was dripping out of it. I was really surprised. About 6 hours in the gas grill at about 225 took care of it, and no splintering so far. But the boys are not as excited about it now that it's dried up a bit (no wonder :) ).

And, the vendor has still not replied to me about my questions. Hmm...
 
Pipelineozzy

Pipelineozzy

New member
I've got antlers here that I cut myself for the dogs (not an easy task, and very smelly, like burnt hair) and I've never YET seen any that had blood in them, in fact, they are solid white or grey all the way through, no marrow. But..mine are all natural shed antlers that we find in the field..so maybe that makes a difference as they are mature and finished growing. I expect during active growth, the would have a blood supply just like any other body part.
 
new_2_newf

new_2_newf

New member
Antlers that have fallen off are essentially 'dead', dried up. If you cut the antlers off a recently dead animal while the antlers were still sort of 'alive', then they'd have blood and 'soft' marrow. Same as if you cut the leg off and gave them that bone. It is a bit messy, but it's no different than feeding a raw bone. It may not be up your ally, but it shouldn't cause them any harm.
 
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