Worms in waterer

[pibb]

Went out to replenish the chickens water this morning and found these worms at the bottom of the container. May be hard to see but they have a little bitty black head or tail. I change the water out every morning. This winter has been very wet here and expecting more rain if that has something to do with it. I don't know if any of the chickens eat any or not.

What are they, why are they there, and how did they get in there?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

The look like larvae. What area do you live in? Are bugs still flying around?

Clean out the waterer.

 

[pibb]

Im in Knoxville. Had some honey bees flying around my feed a few weeks back but they disappeared a day or two later. Haven't noticed any bugs flying around since then or any bugs at all for that matter.

The waterer is not "washed" daily but emptied daily and fresh water swished around to clear out the debris and then fresh water put in. There were no sign of any worms yesterday morning when I rinsed the waterer and filled it back up. That is the wierd thing, they just magically appeared since yesterday morning.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Could be any number of flying insects like mosquitoes, flies, gnats, etc. Just make sure you empty and slosh enough whenever you refill it.

 

[pibb]

They appear to be some sort of moth larvae. It says it takes 4-10 days for eggs to hatch into larvae so I can't believe there were moth eggs in the waterer since I swish the waterer and refill every morning.

Could the chickens have put them in there somehow? They do get a fair amount of dirt and debris in the water in a days time.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

They appear to be some sort of moth larvae. It says it takes 4-10 days for eggs to hatch into larvae so I can't believe there were moth eggs in the waterer since I swish the waterer and refill every morning.

Could the chickens have put them in there somehow? They do get a fair amount of dirt and debris in the water in a days time.

It’s probably just the insect laying near the water and the larvae hatching in it. Mosquito larvae hatch in 24 hours so that is probably more likely.

 

[pibb]

I think they are drain fly larvae:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain_fly

They lay eggs at the water line and hatch in 48 hours into larvae so this is more likely. I guess there were eggs in the water bowl. I've never seen that kind of moth around though.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Those tiny annoying bugs are pretty harmless. I’d just continue to clean out the waterer with a hose when you fill it up.