Hi berniel
Great to hear you have hogs visiting there.
Not sure whether you mean the hog house doesn’t have a base, in which case I might put it on a hard standing, unless it’s a hogilo type, which I would probably put on the ground so that it could be properly pegged down, to avoid predator attacks. If it is wooden and has a base, that would be o.k. on hardstanding too.
But I wouldn’t put a nesting box too close to a feed box – might attract unwanted visitors to the nesting box. Nesting boxes are best located in a quiet part of the garden, possibly with bushes, etc. around. So I would be inclined to leave the feed box where it is (and where the hogs know it is) and it’s easy to replenish, and put the nesting box elsewhere. If you wanted to put it on hard standing, you could use paving slabs to keep it off the ground if necessary.
(Having said that – about the proximity of nesting and feed boxes – sometimes a hog will decide to build a nest in a feed box and so could end up nesting close to a feeding area.)
Don’t be too worried if a hog doesn’t immediately move in. They sometimes need to get used to houses being there before they use them. I would put a handful of appropriate nesting material – i.e. dried leaves, long grasses, etc. – into the box to give them the idea, but leave plenty of other suitable nest material fairly nearby – hogs usually like to make their own nests and are pretty good at it!
Good luck. Hope you get a tenant soon.
