Rain barrel watering

[FortCluck]

What kind of birds are you talking about? - I would be happy if my ducks would drink the clean rain-water with little bird's poop in it… Instead they guzzle down the dirtiest water from holes in the ground they have drilled and pooped into. I assume they would become seriously ill if they would ever drink clean water!

Mine do the same thing

 

[Willowspirit]

I think your system sounds terrific. Do you have any photos?

 

[archeryrob]

To keep your water clean you can add bleach to it occasionally. Our waterers are 15 gallon and started growing algae every three weeks and are filled twice by then. I just smell them and when they get a bit stinky and I see white floating algae I dump a 1/2 Tablespoon of bleach in the 15 gallons of water. It smells like a pool for a week. Not sure how much you would add and you probably get some small debris in there and would need to still clean it a couple times a year and early winter probably a good idea.