Tiny worms in outside water - why?

[JoceAndChris]

I'm hoping Matt or someone might be able to shed some light on this as I can't find anything on the Internet. I've recently begun to use the well water again, for months I had to get the drinking water from Mum and Dad's. The water that we drink goes through a sophisticated filtration system and we're fine. But I'm giving the chickens water from the greenhouse tap, which runs from the well, and small alive worms, like tiny larvae, have begun to appear in the drinkers. I can't see any evidence of infestation as I'm washing and filling up the drinkers, but a day later the worms are there.

The birds all seem very well and there aren't worms in the droppings. 6 wild pheasants are drinking from these bowls too.

What are these worms and where do they come from?

 

[Baron de Gynes]

Oh my! Please take care - there's a chance that they might be the offspring of the Lambton Worm!

Sorry. Someone will be along shortly who is far more knowledgeable in these matters...

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh heavens, as if I didn't have enough to worry about in this crumbling old place, without the Lambton worm showing up!
:wink:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I have sometimes seen little worms cliging to the edges of the water filled bird baths---- howver I do not know anything about it, so hopefully somebody will be along to explain.!

 

[Keith Bowman]

I too have no idea, but i would seriously suggest you boil any water you yourselves use from the well, at least until you have had it checked.

 

[worms]

To quote the PPUK mantra, "pictures please!"

More likely to be free-living than parasitic. What colour are they? Do they hang from the surface/edge, swim free in the water or live on the bottom of the feeder? I'm guessing midge larvae of some sort. Google Chironomid.

Count your blessings, our bird bath has been pretty well frozen for the last couple of weeks, so no chance of anything living in the water around here!

 

[Feltwell]

Joce, don't I remember that the "man from the ministry" came round and tested your well water and strongly advised you to get the treatment kit that you subsequently bought? He sounds like the right man to ask if he's contactable.

On a less sensible note:-
That worm of the Baron's hasn't got anything to do with Lucinda has it?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Joce, don't I remember that the "man from the ministry" came round and tested your well water and strongly advised you to get the treatment kit that you subsequently bought? He sounds like the right man to ask if he's contactable.

On a less sensible note:-
That worm of the Baron's hasn't got anything to do with Lucinda has it?

Yes, she's a descendant.

Of the worm-killer, that is :twisted:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks so much for the posts.

Worms - it seems an odd time for mosquitoes or midges but you could well be spot on with that. I'll take some pics if they are there today. And observe their characteristics better. If they're just midge larvae I'm quite happy for my birds to eat them up.

It's odd here though, things in bud, baby rabbits, hens going broody. Not really very wintry at all.

And I'm not worried about our well water as we've just replaced all the cartridges, at vast expense.

 

[worms]

Joce, by all accounts midges are still out and about in the warmer parts of the country (these will be dancing midges rather than biting midges). I would have thought they are more likely to be from eggs laid in the water dishes themselves rather than coming in from the well but I guess it depends how open the well is.

 

[LadyArowana]

If you want to know whether they are coming out in the well water or if they are arriving in the water after it is sitting in the dish then you can test by filling a small pot and sealing it and also filling another one and leaving that outside. If little wormy things are visible in the sealed pot then they have to be in the water already?

 

[Penners]

Her Ladyship's empirical approach seems eminently sensible to me.

And of course the opinions expressed by worms should be definitive! (I've often wondered why he uses that nom de plume).

 

[Flyfisher]

Worms - it seems an odd time for mosquitoes or midges but you could well be spot on with that. I'll take some pics if they are there today. And observe their characteristics better. If they're just midge larvae I'm quite happy for my birds to eat them up.

I agree it's an odd time for them but I've noticed them here around lamps in the evenings, so they could be the culprit.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

We still have a lot of midges, we can see them when the sun shines, and the birds have more ore less ignored the holly berries. Lavender still flowering and was full of Goldfinches last week. Cold blast on the way now though.