Ducks!

Hi all,

We have a bit of a problem with a neighbour and some ducks. There are a few ponds in the village and the lady next door has a small kids paddling pool in her front garden near the front door (so also quite near ours) with a few inches of water in which looks decidedly filthy. She feeds the ducks twice a day which of course keeps them coming!  Our drive and pathway is becoming a really dodgy place to walk and is quite some mission to get indoors without any on our shoes. We have asked her nicely if she'd please stop feeding them, there are a few ponds and natural places for them to eat.

She is worried about them having no food and water,

We are worried about the health of our family and children, and it is annoying to have duck poo quite literally all over our front garden. But also I'm quite sure this isn't healthy for the ducks either?

I'm half expecting to be shot down for this 'complaint' on here but it is the best place to ask for advise, and any offerings we can reassure our neighbour with. Please!

Thanks Slight smile

  • Hello Ali, please don't expect to be shot down for asking a question, that is what the forum is all about, not only learning about our featherd friends, gardens, flowers etc but to help each other out, with any type of questions.

    I have to say that if this was my neighbour, I also would be unhappy about this problem, having to walk through duck poo all the time, not to mention the health aspect, as you have already mentioned.

    I would talke to her nicely again. Remind her that there are other ponds and places for folk to feed them. If she stops feeding them they will soon find other places to eat and swim. If she insists on continuing to feed them, asked her to do so in her back garden, and to clean out the paddling pool regularity, or move it further away from your premises. If left where it is, ask her to clean it the pool and hose the pathway regularly. If she is not willing to do anything about this, you are quite within your rights to report her to the local authorities and explain the situation and the conversations that you have had. This of course could cause problems between you and your neighbour, but you have to do what you think is right. Good luck and keep us posted.

  • Thanks for your reply. We will pop and see her again if no joy after a few days, some good suggestions re moving the pool and feeding in her back garden if she insists carrying on. We don't want to make a dispute unnecessarily which is why we spoke to her in the first place but may well have to go down that route. Thank you again.
  • Hi AliS, Welcome to the Forum--hope you stay even after you settle the issue with your neighbour about the ducks. I sympathise about your not wanting to walk through duck poo whenever you enter or leave your house. It can be a health issue as Catlady says. I love ducks, but I would not like that either. Do you know what your neighbour is feeding to the ducks? I ask because if it is bread, then you might approach her with the information that she is doing the ducks more harm than good. In addition to the fact that bread is not a natural food for ducks, it does not have the correct nutrition for ducks, and in fact, eating bread is quite disabling for ducklings because it can cause damage to their developing wings. They can end up with something called angel wing, a major problem for them, which can make them unable to fly and unable to escape predators. Have a look here: en.wikipedia.org/.../Angel_wing . This also can affect geese, swans and some other birds. Good luck and please let us know how you get on.