Turkeys in the yard . . . a better way?

[Hay Dude]

In my area, we have just a few coyotes and just a few turkey flocks. I see them more than the average joker because I’m in farm fields and remote areas all day and at dusk.
It feels like once the coyotes start expanding, the turkeys begin disappearing and once the turkeys start showing up, there’s more coyotes. Goes in cycles.
Neither can seem to fully permeate our area.

 

[mikester]

They generally won’t go over fence so circling the offended area with several strands of wire at 6”, 18, 30, and 42” heights should discourage them.
Or chicken wire.

Our turkies didn't get the memo and tend to ignore fences and fly over them.

 

[lman]

Bobcats moved into this area and I don't see as many turkeys now. The coyotes and bobcats are keeping them under control around here.

 

[beowulf]

Checking in: In addition to my wife chasing them and throwing pinecones, I decided to fire blasts from a .410 both over them and in front of them. Shooting in front of them scatters some dirt and stuff and works better than shooting over them and they scatter and now seem much less casual about coming into the yard - even though they do so most days.

As for the flying - well, they can fly. It just seems that at times it is not their preferred way of traveling - frequently choosing to walk up and down and up and down a fence line trying to figure out how to get to the other side before they remember they can fly. I watched one do that for about 20 minutes before it irritated a cow which then charged the turkey and if flew over the fence. Interesting birds - not sure how smart they are.

We have seen them fly for some distance - over buildings, over a tennis court and more.

We have coyotes (two in the yard yesterday chasing one of our cats) but so far turkey population does not seem affected. We also have bobcats but have not seem them recently.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I also enjoyed watching my wife chase turkey out of her flower garden. They are kind of cute though, especially when they have chicks. They're a real nuisance in numbers though:

The solution to keep them from digging up the garden was to use this plastic mesh:

Amazon.com

It works well when laid on the ground in areas where they tend to scratch. It becomes almost invisible when covered with a thin layer of mulch. It's also available in brown which further reduces it's visibility.

The real answer to the turkey problem came when we started composting household food scraps. It wasn't long before a family of these guys moved in:

Not many turkey around now.

 

[Oaktree]

A couple years ago we had some pretty big flocks (30 or more), but some sort of predator seems to have thinned them out quite a bit. I don't sweat it when they come around...the ones here seem to have a fairly large territory, and generally move on within a week or so.
Was kind of fun watching the turkeys and deer compete for the drops a couple winters ago in our orchard.

As for coyotes, we used to hear them all the time maybe 10 years ago, but lately not as much. Dunno if something got them or if they just moved on.

Sort of like seniors with the home in the north and a summer home in the south.

Don't you mean winter home in the south?

 

[Bigkrank]

Pump BB gun worked for me. I popped a couple in the butt a few times. Then for a few weeks went out and just gave the gun a couple pumps and they run like crazy when they hear it. Don't come in the yard no more.

 

[JethroB]

Pump BB gun worked for me. I popped a couple in the butt a few times. Then for a few weeks went out and just gave the gun a couple pumps and they run like crazy when they hear it. Don't come in the yard no more.

Uh oh. Be careful. I suggested paintballs for geese on here once and got shamed.

 

[beowulf]

After I used the shotgun a few times - shooting over and under them, I tried mimicking the sound of the gun by banging two 1 x 3 short boards together - seems to work most of the time.