Rain barrels and my Ducks/Goose

[brandilly]

Ok, so I want to set up some rain barrels to help offset filling my pool for The Feathers (I have 4 ducks and a goose). I have cedar shakes on my roof, probably 30 years old. What kind of things do I need to consider regarding safety for using that water? Any thoughts, advice, recommendations and such will be greatly appreciated!

 

[Yetti]

lucky for you its not shingles or galvanized. they give off stuff that can kill birds. galvanized is the worst as it gives off zinc oxide. in high concentrations its real bad. painted roofs are much better. they tend to be baked enamel and don't give off toxins.
your wood shingles sound like they should be fine. just watch for algae and mold build up in the barrels. the birds don't need it treated. but it does have to be clean. secondly they will be happy in most respects with rain water. my geese love it. I have a huge barn and it rolls off into the pools when it pours out. rain water is usually high in acid so its kinda like self treating in that respect. algae doesn't like it.
use a nice piece of fine screen to keep out any debris and leaves and such. we use the large blue 55 gallon type and they do very well.
one thing we tried over the summer was a blue plastic tarp. we strung it up over a swing set and set up a barrel under the center. just an 8 x 10 collected a full barrels worth in about a day.
hope this helps