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Ducks pooping all over my porch.

 
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I have two teenage Muscovy ducks in my yard and while they are doing a great job at mowing my yard and eating bugs they sit directly under my sliding door and poop all over the porch. I want them in the yard but I cannot have duck poop all over my porch(especially right where you walk outside.). They like being high up on fences and other things so I feel like if I build a fence around the porch they will just fly over it. Has anyone had any experience in this area, and if so what did you do about it?
 
pollinator
Posts: 933
Location: France
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I'm smiling here at fond memories of when my six geese were 'teenagers'. They wanted to be with me all the time and when I was working at the computer which is right by the patio windows, they would sit right on the step and tap on the glass to me... and poop everywhere just like your muscovies. What did we do about it? We grumbled and spent the Winter working out what we were going to do about it come Spring. However, as they have gotten older and more comfortable in their own company without me being there (mainly because we're not out working with them so much in the garden in the Winter), they only occasionally pass by and say "Hello" so the 'problem' resolved itself. Mind you, that first year when the rain washed the poop off the step and patio into the flower beds, boy did I have some great strong plants for my bees - every cloud has a silver lining!
 
gardener
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Location: Lower Mainland British Columbia Canada Zone 8a/ Manchester Jamaica
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Poo on the porch... #1 way to stop it is do not come out of that door when you feed them.
We long ago through it was nasty but cute, next year the big male would be coming through our front door when we let the dogs out.
By 4pm I can have 30 ducks on my porch crapping it up. They know food comes out of this door, and it usually comes around 4 so if you don't feel like eating just sit there from 2-6 and something will surely happen.
I try producing false alarms like coming out the door and putting a handful of grain back into the yard for them to chase.

In the bad ol days we got allot of poop on baby gates n such but now there pretty good and have learned to stay within eyesight of the door but not at the door. I go back n forth so often to throw them off and then go another way out the house to feed them.
It's not a full solution like putting a screen door on your porch, but it's our patterns that they exploit so shake it up so they don't have a routine they run on you.

 
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Location: Zone 8b, semi-arid
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Saybian probably has the best answer so far. Personally, I just pressure-hose the poo off the porch into the surrounding garden beds every day (our cement porch is raised), which works well - the gardens get fertilized regularly . Although we have ducks, they've never had much interest in the porch... it's our geese that like to hang out and watch "People Television" through the large livingroom picture window.

One thing for sure: they will not be fed purple cabbage leaves ever again. Blue-green poo all over the porch. Took awhile for the stains to fade.
 
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Some push in stakes and some deer netting will discourage their use of the porch....and they can't fly to the top of it and perch. Easy and cheap fix that won't really show much from a distance.
 
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I am having the same issue now. If we are not outside the ducks are at my back door peeping and pooping. If we are outside they wander around near us, happy. For mine it is an attachment issue not a food issue. I have made them a smaller penned area in the back yard to keep them when we are not outside. They pace the fence though looking for us. We have 2 ducks about 5 weeks now. They spend the warm days outside but come in at night since it is still too cold.
 
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