What is this?!?

[Noraaaaa]

Okay so I was at fair for 9 days and was not home to change my chickens water. So for 9 days they did not get clean water (my grandmother did not want to). So what is this?!? I know I had mosquito larva in it, but what is this?!? Lives in water- this is in a water cup in my house. Smaller than my fingernail.

 

[Jener8or]

Drain fly larvae.

 

[Noraaaaa]

Drain fly larvae.

Thank you!!!

 

[Folly's place]

Just dump it, rinse, and fresh water. In summer insect larva happen, refreshing waterers every other day matters.
We have a few small goldfish in our 100 gallon horse water tank, because dumping that tank ain't gonna happen often!
Mary

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Just dump it, rinse, and fresh water. In summer insect larva happen, refreshing waterers every other day matters.
We have a few small goldfish in our 100 gallon horse water tank, because dumping that tank ain't gonna happen often!
Mary

How'd they get there?!

 

[Chickenpoonumber2]

How'd they get there?!

Yeah... I have questions. Did you put them there? They eat the larva and keep it clean?

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Yeah... I have questions. Did you put them there? They eat the larva and keep it clean?

That had not occurred to me at all, but what an intriguing idea!

 

[Chickenpoonumber2]

That had not occurred to me at all, but what an intriguing idea!

It's kinda brilliant right?! I hope that's what it is and not people dumping unwanted goldfish in horse water

 

[Folly's place]

NO! I buy the little guys out of the 'kill tank' at the pet store, when they look healthy enough. They start maybe 1.5" long, and not all survive in the water tank, but some do make it, and when they get a few inches long, they move to a friend's backyard pond, and I get a few little ones again.
Goldfish like these arrive in huge numbers in bags from hatcheries down south, often die in transit, and are used as live food for big aquarium fish. Nasty!
I wouldn't ever put them in a chicken waterer, but in the big livestock tanks, 100 or 150 gallons, they do pretty well. And the horse waterer is heated to 45F in winter, no ice there.
Mary