Is there a way to keep the turkeys out of a freshly planted field? Thanks

It's tough and A LOT of work. But rolling out chicken wire then rolling it up before it gets too tall.

Chicken litter

Lol

No.

All I know to do is to plant enough seed to make up for what they get.

Or broadcast cracked corn in the surrounding areas, to keep them distracted.
I have a bigger problem with the dang crows.

#6’’s always worked for me.

I have never tried that; I guess it could work if you really put out a lot.

There are always critters that are willing to eat chufas at the wrong time. Crows can really do a lot of damage, and so can coons. I had a lot of damage to a patch by squirrels last year. But turkeys can be the worst of all if a flock gets a taste for them. I've had freshly planted fields completely ruined when a group of turkeys found them and decided to stay there. Most years it doesn't happen, but I think it is like a tiger that gets a taste for humans and there is no stopping them.

You only need a short term fix. Once the chufa plants get about 4" tall the turkeys will leave them alone. If you have good conditions when you plant, that shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks. I have thought that it might work to put a radio in the field, but I've never tried it. Good luck to all with the problem.

That's what the chicken wire does. They can't scratch through it. But like I said---Lots of work.

Not really a practical solution for us common folk.

Me either, but it's effective. I'm doing your idea. Feeding the pee out them right now everywhere around. Just down the main roads. I'm doing it with the ATV spreader so it's not going very far off the road.

Plant a month earlier and keep them shot off it?

Have you tried a scarecrow made out of some of your old clothes?

I tried wind chimes, aluminum foil pans hung up to blow in the wind, feeding them just outside the chufa patch, taking a 22 and shooting it in their general direction to scare off (not at them; calm down), etc. None of that helped.

Never tried a scare crow.

I’ve heard of guys finding stray puppies and taking them to patch and feeding them there until the chufa gets big enough turkeys won’t mess with it. Theory is the dog would keep the turkeys away. I’ve never done it.

Like PCP said, once they get started, they are like a tiger with a taste for human flesh...doesn’t seem like anything can stop them

A buddy of mine uses large sheets of screen material, similar to what you see at a nursery. It works but he rotates it, so it requires some work.

all i do is put crack corn down my road where my chufa fields are. they'll start walking the road eating crack corn and forget all about them and give them enough time to germinate and start growing. then I just have to worry about coons going down the rows pulling them up, and crows too i guess

Crows were hell on mine one year and hogs were another year. I havent ever had a major issue with turkeys scratching them up after planting.

a 12 gauge and number 5 shot?

Heck we dont want them all to die! That stuff is killing more turkeys then the plague I hear....

Take a lot of chicken wire to cover 10 acres. Lol!

I have more problems with other critters (coons, squirrels and crows) than I do with turkeys. I can see them wiping out small plots though. I try to keep my chufa patches at a 1 acre minimum.

I've never had to deal with hogs in them but have seen what they'll do.