Homemade Electrolyte Mix for Pets & People
Pre-mixed electrolyte mixes didn’t always exist. Here’s a story about how I came to make my own homemade electrolyte mix.
Six years ago, my husband and I moved to this area of Virginia after living in Pittsburgh for eight years and West Virginia before that. We rented a large one-bedroom apartment on a 99-acre farm in Clarke County. The farm hand was overworked between the property we lived on and a handful of other properties.
WARNING: If you’re sensitive to animals being harmed, skip the next two paragraphs.
On August 27th, my two-year anniversary, the farm hand didn’t release the egg laying chickens and ducks from their coop right beside our rental until after 1 pm. I’d had a busy morning for my work-from-home nonprofit job and hadn’t made it outside on that hot day until shortly after he opened their coop door. My neighbor and I were heartbroken to see dozens of chickens and ducks gasping for breath or already still; some were moving but they were left there assumed already dead. Appalled, I realized that I had to try to help the few that were holding on.
So I did a quick online search, and came up with the below mixture, the ingredients for which I already had on hand. I helped each one drink it and dunked their feet in cold water for a couple of minutes to cool them down. Most pulled through, and I considered them my own.
On the mornings of these 85 degree and up days we’re experiencing, I give this mixture to my meat and laying birds as a preventative and it’s worked very well for them. If I have a bird or two that still seem to be struggling, I’ll help them drink a concentrated mix. I receive an email newsletter from another farmer and they shared that they lost quite a few meat birds the last two weeks, so I’m sharing this with them in hopes that it will help.
This mix also aided my dog, one nearly fateful day. My mom makes the 40 minute trek to my house when she can to play with my toddler. One sunny day in May, she accidentally set off her car alarm when searching for tangerines she brought for my daughter. During the frazzle to turn it off, she didn’t notice that my dog Violet hopped into her car hoping for a ride.
It took me 30 minutes to realize that I hadn’t seen my furry pal for a while. Luckily all four windows were down a bit but the windshield was getting the full brunt of the sun that afternoon and the car was hot. Hot-nosed Violet was panting hard even after she came inside, so I mixed up the below brew a bit strong, set a fan in front of her, and she cooled off pretty quickly after that.
I also drink this myself sometimes since I don’t trust the “natural flavors” in most electrolyte mixes on the market. Plus this is way cheaper. I generally try to avoid sugar cane since it bothers my one troubled tooth, but DANG it’s been hot lately. Plus molasses contains lots of minerals, unlike its other half: processed white sugar.
Prep Time: 5 minutes Shake Time: 2 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 gallon water
1 Tablespoon sea salt (my favorites are Redmond Real Salt and Baja Gold Mineral Salt)
2 Tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons organic molasses
DIRECTIONS:
Fill up a gallon jug with filtered water.
Add sea salt, apple cider vinegar, and molasses.
Shake 5 minutes or until combined.
Enjoy!
Tip 1: If making this for myself, I may add some fresh lemon or lime juice.
Tip 2: If making this for my dog after a dog park trip on a warmer-than-expected day, I’ll add an ice cube of homemade bone broth which I usually have on hand.
Disclaimer: I’m not a veterinarian or a doctor, so please feel free to consult them whether this will work for your situation.