Small issue with my neighbour…

[TakesTheCake]

Our garden is slightly higher than our neighbour’s garden, and we share a fence with a kind of rut/dip underneath it. Half of my garden is lawn but the nearest portion is patio.

We have free ranging chickens and once a week I wash down the patio with the hose and a broom because of the chicken poo. Any bits go into the rut underneath but depending on how long I spend doing it, some water inevitably builds up in the rut and runs onto the neighbour’s path, alongside the fence.

We are on OK terms with the neighbour, though it’s an odd arrangement where our houses are on different streets so I actually have never seen the front of their house and am not sure where it is. We have chatted over the fence, though, and it’s always been friendly enough.

Yesterday I washed down the patio, and the neighbour was in her garden. It was clearly long enough to overspill onto her path as she yelled out that the water was coming onto her path. I apologised and immediately stopped, moving onto the portion of our patio where the water runs into our own flower bed and lawn. However she then yelled again (quite angrily) and said it was still running through. This could not have been additional water as I had moved past that point by then. She said to look over the fence and I did, and what I consider a small amount of water was wetting her path. Clear water not muddy or pooey water. I explained that I really had stopped cleaning that area as soon as she called the first time, and all run-off was now going onto our flower bed and lawn. It must have been just still dribbling through from before. She stomped off into the house angrily while I was standing there.

I’m really dismayed as I hate having any issues with the neighbours or bothering anyone. I feel like it’s just water and I’m not sure what the big deal is but now questioning myself. Should I stop ever using water on the back portion of our patio? We pressure clean it once a year too, and it’s completely unavoidable to stop the water going onto the neighbour’s path. I can try to avoid using water on that segment of the patio that butts right up against the shared fence, or do it as little as possible, but it’s not possible to avoid it altogether.

I want to hang a bag with box of our chickens’ eggs from a fence post so it’s on their side of the fence, with a note to say sorry, but not sure how to word it. “I’m sorry about the water but I don’t get what the big deal is” obviously isn’t an option, but “I’m sorry about the water and I’ll never do it again” isn’t a promise I can keep. I don’t know if the tiny gap at the bottom of the fence can be filled in but that’s something I will look into.

Any suggestions or perspectives? I know it is a small issue but I really want to avoid any bad feeling of any kind.

I wouldn't like this very much. I would ask if they have concerns.

''They are four small bantams in a pretty big garden. There really isn’t a poo problem.''
And yet you need to hose down the patio weekly, soaking your neighbour's path in the process with dirty water and pressure wash every few months.
Of course your neighbour will be upset with having her path soaked with chicken poo water every week.
It doesn't matter that ''it's just water, no pieces of shit'' - it's dirty water and it's causing a nuisance on a regular basis.

Soapyspuds I do.

Keep yourself and your water, muck and mess to your garden and property. Its that simple.

WillowCraft We both have dogs. Barking only really happens when they sense each other on the other side of the fence, and when ours does, we swiftly bring him in and he never goes out alone. I really couldn’t do more, other than a. give up having a dog or b. never let him in the garden for a wee. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

BCSurvivor If the issue was dirty water she would have said the issue was dirty water. She said the issue was water, not dirty water, or shitty water, or muddy water.

Maybe wash your patio down when it’s raining so she can’t tell whether it’s your water or rain water anyway?

I would imagine she's seen you washing down your patio every week and knows it's pooey water, but this is the first time she's been able to say anything. So it's not just this particular occasion she's fed up about. Even if it's 'only water', it's what it represents that gets on people's nerves - the fact that you're encroaching on her space with your patio- washing. It would be the same if it was smoke or barbecue smells going over, or something like that.

I wouldn't want chicken poop flushed into my garden
Are you using a hose or power washer?
A bucket snd scrubbing brush may prevent water going over.

AThickLayerOfLard Been looking into this since you posted it, and it seems rainwater coming off our property, which doesn’t amount to much, shouldn’t be an issue. Now that I know that the dribbles that come through when I rinse down the patio (no flooding) are an issue, I’m either going to avoid doing that or find a way to stop any going through. Yesterday was the first time I was tipped off to there being an issue.

kitsuneghost Just a hose. We pressure-wash it in spring, once a year. I am going to really stress out about doing that now. That is a lot more water than a quick rinse-down with a hose, with as much swept into our flower bed with a broom as possible.

I would love to live next door to your cute bantams. I wouldn't give a fig about water dribbling through the fence - it will dry; it is what water does? and would welcome gifts of eggs. Some strange people on this thread. When you think what awful neighbours you read about on here...

friskybivalves Aww thank you. Would love to have you next door. Thank you for your kind words.

Just a hose. We pressure-wash it in spring, once a year. I am going to really stress out about doing that now. That is a lot more water than a quick rinse-down with a hose, with as much swept into our flower bed with a broom as possible.

No wonder your neighbour is annoyed.
Not only does she have to put up with ''just a little bit'' of mucky water once a week - and while I appreciate it may look like clean water, it's really not if you are rinsing down chicken poo - every spring you flood her garden with a pressure washer!

And every time there is a massive storm, the rain floods her garden and rather more than once a year unless she goes off to live in the Gobi desert and has to walk five miles to a watering hole to fill a jug to wash and drink. Blimey. Live and let live. If this is all people have to worry about in their lives and from their neighbours, they are truly blessed

I agree with this. My neighbour throws tires, roof felt and other DIY scraps into my garden. I'd find it hard to get worked up about a bit of chicken shit water.

OP and her chickens would be welcome to move in nextdoor to me. I'd not only throw her a welcome party, I'd offer to clean her patio for her if it meant getting rid of my current neighbour.

I'd love a neighbour where my only concern was a bit of chicken clucking and a soggy path and that's without the free eggs.

My neighbour has chickens & I don’t mind in the slightest. You know a high number of gardens have unwashed rat piss in them right? Along with flies, bird poo & various other grim things.

If you don’t want to live next to neighbours with chickens that’s fine but you don’t speak for everyone.

You need to alter the slope of the concrete or flags so that excess water runs into your own garden or a drain on your property. Or put a gutter at the back so excess water runs along that to your garden drain. It’s not acceptable to drain off into a neighbour’s property.

Just say "Sorry that the water ran down I to your side, it's quite unavoidable and does so when raining too. I do apologise if this has upset you and can let you know when I'm washing down my patio in future. I do this to avoid the smell of chickens building up as I didn't want you to be affected by this smell. I hope we can come to some kind of compromise.

Just go to google maps and find hour house on satellite view and work out where her front door is. Go over with biscuits or something, knock on her door, apologize but explain you wanted to clarify if something has happened, how to make things ok….

Our neighbours house is higher than ours. We have mud washing down to our patio every time it rains. Its very annoying as our patio always looks filthy. I don't blame the neighbours, it's the way the houses were built. I can understand your neighbours annoyance as you're deliberately letting water wash down.

Lawn sand is AMAZING- kills moss and makes everything green and lush.

It’s not the water that’s the issue. It’s the pathogens it contains.

Even clear water will still contain pathogens from fresh chicken poo. It’s a health hazard.

Sorry, but you're totally in the wrong and need to come up with a solution that stops your water constantly spilling onto your neighbour's garden. We had the exact same thing with our neighbour (with a higher garden) hosing their dog runs and water running down our patio,.which then turned that exact bit mouldy green. They eventually paid to get a drain installed in their garden and a raised border to act as a barrier.