Back in NY I knew someone who had a blueberry farm and he said that the turkeys were good to have around because they’d even eat the bad ones that fell on the ground that would harbor insects. It was less spraying they’d have to do.
I don’t know how he protected his crop otherwise, but it was a HUGE field and I don’t doubt that during the day the turkeys steered clear because it was so busy. Too many people.
I think if you have a huge field you just figure that the birds are going to take a percentage. Of course, turkeys were non existent back in the 1970s.
I remember going to large PYO fields in WNY state south of Buffalo. They had the guns that would go off every 15 minutes to keep the birds away. They also had fake owls around the field. Turkeys are great for eating ticks and grubs. However, when you have a flock of nine birds hanging around 24/7, they could eat all the blueberries off of my seven bushes in a day.
I just bought netting on Amazon.