We just heard from a reader who discovered hundreds of small red worms wiggling in the bottom of his chickens’ large water bowl. He wonders what kind of worm they are.

Although he didn’t include a photo, we are fairly certain that he has found bloodworms just based off the description. Bloodworms are the larva of midge fly, and they get their nickname from their bright red color. Bloodworms feed on organic matter, often in a moist place where there isn’t a ton of light and grime might accumulate quickly (like at the bottom of a large bowl that chickens drink out of). Although these worms are uneasy on the eyes, they aren’t harmful. However, we recommend our reader change out the water and clean the bowl more often for his chickens!

To sum up, our reader found tons of red worms in the bottom of his chickens’ water bowl. We believe these are bloodworms.

Originally posted 2016-01-04 19:19:08.