Homemade Water Soluble Calcium for Chickens, Animals & Plants
Water soluble calcium is an all-natural, safe, and effective way to make sure your chickens, plants, and animals are getting all the calcium they need every day.
Materials
- 12 egg shells
- brown rice vinegar (other fermented vinegars such as apple, pineapple and banana appear to work equally well)
Instructions
- Remove inner membrane from all the shells.
- Break shells into small pieces.
- Lightly roast the shells in a frying pan until brown. Do this slowly over the course of about 45 min, stirring frequently. Do not char them until black. You simply want to remove the organic substances that could rot the entire batch.
- Put1 part of the crushed eggshells to 10 parts brown rice vinegar into a clean,half gallon-sized mason jar, but only fill 2/3 of it.
- Cover with paper towel or other breathable cloth or paper tied with string. You can use rubber bands, of course, but I've occasionally had some pop while I wasn't looking. It will be bubbly and active at first like soda. After about a week or so, when it stops moving.
- To confirm the brew is ready, add a little of your extra toasted eggshell. If it does not produce new bubbles, you can strain off the vinegar.
- Store in a cool dark place in bottles that are not tightly closed. It must breathe. Overly tightened bottles have been known to explode over time. You have been warned.
- Be sure to label what's in the bottle, including the date of extraction and dilution ratio, which is 1:1000.
- Water-soluble calcium percolatesfor about 7 days
Notes
What does the dilution ratio mean?
A rate of 1:1000 means for every liter (1000 ml) of water you only need 1 ml of WCA. Since one teaspoon is roughly 5 ml, that means for every gallon of water, you would add just shy of a teaspoon of WCA. One gallon of water feeds a 100 sq ft bed. A little goes a long way. More is NOT better.
Note that when I say 'feed' I mean we're feeding the soil. We're building up the resilience and balancing nutrients within the soil. KNF always focuses on soil first, mainly because the mouth of the plant is in the roots. This means that not only will your current crops benefit, but the next year's crop yields will be higher too!
That said, these inputs do not harm plants, when applied directly to leaves. In the case of WCA, spraying it on leaves (diluted, of course) helps prevent overgrowth and make sweet, firm fruits by moving carbohydrates from leaves and branches to the fruit.
And that's not all! WCA is quite useful as a supplement for livestock and yourself (if you can get past the smell)! It may help animals and children who fail to thrive.
Used together with Water-Soluble Calcium Phosphate (WCP), it is helpful for chickens that have stopped laying or lost their feathers after a few years. This combo taken before pregnancy may also help stave off morning sickness.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to know how to make your own plant nutrients wherever you live. This is particularly important for the upcoming years as prices for unsustainably produced fossil-derived inputs and so-called 'organic' fertilizers skyrocket.