� Antlers grow in stages as the pricket/stag grows older.
� Points: A prong on a deer antler, Tine: Another name for a prongs; tines help determine �rank� as such, the following are the names of the tines, brow, bay, trey (trez in plural), sur-royal and crown (which could consist of a number of tines at the top), Rack: A pair of antlers, Beam: the long part of the antler that grows outwards, (in red deer, they grow up and inward)
� When a male fawn is about 1 year old, they begin to developed pedicles, two knobs of bone at the top of the head where the antlers will grow from.
� At 2 years, the they grow a little more and become known as Knobber or brockets, they don�t have tines yet and they are little more than little lumps.
� At age three, they are called �spiker� and they begin to become pointed.
� From age 4 onwards, the antlers grow in size and weight, growing tines as they go until age 7-9 is reaches, where antler growth stops.
� Most stags stop with 10 tines. A �royal� is a stag with 12+ tines. Royals are rare.
� Diet and shelter and other variables effect antler growth & development. Lowland areas supply better food so antlers can grow larger and more crown tines. Highland areas don�t have as �royals� because of nutrient levels and the royals they do have often don�t grow many more than 12 tines.
� A Hummel or Nott is a stag that cannot grow antlers for some reason or another, because they cannot put nutrients into antler growth, often they are able to have a greater body mass than usual, Hummel� are uncommon. � A Switch is the name for a stag that has been able to grow antlers, but only has grown brow tines; they are also called �killers� at times because of the way their antlers formed, when antlers are locked, their brow tines end up hold back the opposing stag and the rest of the antler, with no tines to lock end up locked, they go through the defense that tines provide and hurt or kill the opposing stag. Switches, like Hummel are uncommon. � Antlers are shed in early spring with older stags shedding first.
� The antlers begin to grow back in late spring, they are covered by a thin, fuzzy skin called velvet, stags �box� each other with their front hooves to protect their antlers while they�re in velvet because they are delicate in that state.
� By mid summer, the antlers are full developed for that year and the velvet is due to be shed. At this point the velvet is very irritating and must be shed by �fraying,� fraying is when a stag rubs his antlers against trees or other surfaces to scratch the velvet off.
