Neighbourhood feral had kittens...

One of the neighbourhood ferals has had kittens just outside of my yard and is getting into my garbage to provide for them when she can't make a kill. I'd guess them at a couple of months old, based on their ability to eat bird and leave the "nest" There are 4 of them 

I wondered about offering a little food sometimes, closer to the end of the yard-would that discourage mom from garbage picking if she could find food closer to home? What should I offer to a feral family?

First, thank you for caring about these kittens and the momma cat.

I fed a feral colony twice a day and the cats still 'dumpster dived'.  So certainly you can put food out for the mom, but she is still likely to go through the garbage, in part because she needs a LOT of calories just to survive.  And a word of warning:  raccoons love cat food.

Depending on your finances, I would put out kitten food (dry and wet) because kitten food has more calories in it.  And this time of year:  plenty of water.

Do you think you could trap the kittens/mom to get them spayed/neutered?  If the kittens are around two months old and/or weigh two pounds, most vets/feral groups will spay/neuter the cat.

Unfortunately, since the kittens were born into my neighbour's yard and not mine...I don't dare trap them. I could start world war three over the(human) territorial issues. However, the cats believe my yard is part of their territory, so feeding them is not an issue. The kittens are already rolling back and forth under the chain-link as they play.

I'll probably go with dry kitten food, given the heat.....but I buy wet food for Matt, so I'll put out the odd saucer for them too. They liked what I put out before.....and a water bowl. The hubby said to put out only a little food so that mom will still hunt

When they come onto your property, at night, under the cover of darkness, you could trap them, get them spayed/neutered the next day, and the GOM (grumpy old man) won't know

The cats who got fed twice a day dumpster dived--and hunted.  I saw three of them corner a mouse; not a good outcome for the mouse.

I believe that if they are on your property, you have the right to trap them. Trapping and altering them will be so much better than feeding them only. The kittens will end up breeding, too, and next thing you know, you will have a colony. If you can work with your neighbors, so much the better but I've trapped neighborhood cats and had them fixed for this exact reason - they were on my property, in my trash and spraying on my house. To be honest, i don't think the cats "owners" even knew. They were used to the cats not being around for days at a time because they wandered the neighborhood.

Contact your local shelter for guidance but I would give trapping a shot.