New hog feeding station

[scoobysue]

I have just put up a new feeding plastic box out for my hogs , on the last couple of nights i noticed a little food had been taken but not sure what was taking it, so last night i put the camera out it did catch a Hog on it which is brill but it only put its snout near the entrance and never went in. The hole is 4.5″ wide should it be a little bigger. The hog last night was a good size. I have got a pipe to put in hole to stop the cats getting in but not put it on yet .

[Nic]

Hi scoobysue

Good that you have a hog there. Some hogs just don’t like going into boxes, however big the entrance is, so it may be that you have one of those there. I have had several over the years and so use a sheet of perspex balanced on 2 and 3 litre earth filled flower pots, weighed down – either with more earth filled pots or bricks. Even the hogs who don’t like going into boxes don’t seem to mind that arrangement. Some cats still manage to get under, so I usually put some food in a fairly cat proof box as well, for any other hogs that don’t mind them.

If you are using a plastic box with a fairly small entrance, make sure it is very well either pegged or weighted down, just in case a hog gets stuck in the entrance. They can usually manage, as long as the whole structure doesn’t move when they try to squeeze through. The entrance to one of my hog boxes is about 4.25 wide and hogs seem to have no trouble getting in.

[scoobysue]

Hi Nic thx for your interest in my question. Last night i did not put camera out and all the food has gone typical if it was a hog it went right into box. Will be putting camera out tonight so hopefully catch a Hog eating and not the Local cats . I have seen photos of piping stuck in the hole of a feeding box if you have done this how wide is the piping.

[Nic]

Hi scoobysue

That sounds typical hog turning up the one night the cameras aren’t out!

I know other people do use piping, but I personally have never been keen on the idea. The reason is that I have heard of pest control people putting rat bait in piping, so have never liked the idea of hogs thinking they were ok places to be.

I have wooden boxes for feeding and use bricks inside the internal corridors to reduce the height of the corridor, (i.e. on the floor of the corridor so that the hogs climb over them) to deter cats – especially in the areas that they have to double back on themselves. That, I have found, is the easiest and most reliable way to keep cats out. A fairly heavy earth filled flower pot either side of the doorway can also be an extra deterrant – it prevents the cat from entering at an angle which they would have to do if they needed to turn immediately left or right upon entering.

To be honest, it’s all a bit of trial and error, depending on what the hogs in your area will take to and how persistent the cats are.

Good luck, hope you get something worked out that the hogs approve of!

[Bassman]

I’ve got one cat that seems intent on raiding the only box it can actually get at the food in so for the time being I’ve put a tall heavy plant pot in front of it and left a narrow gap so hogs come in from side and then turn sharp into the box itself.
Seems to be working so far though I’ll probably end up buying another wooden box type with and internal wall leading into the main room. I have just one video of the cat almost getting its head stuck in it but once it realises it cant get at any food in there it soon gives up. I also have one of those ‘igloo’ type stations and I’ve never seen any cat try to put its head in there as its low to the ground with a slightly extended front (not really a tube) and the cats don’t seem to like that shape at all. Hogs go straight in though, it was used the first night I put it out.

[Baldwin hedgehog]

I noticed this problem a few years back when I had the camera on. In my case I had done a good job excluding the cats from the feed station only for them to get annoyed and spray/urinate over it. You could clearly see that any hedgehog that later turned up could smell it and wouldn’t go in.
Cleaning the box with soap and water helped but in the end I resorted to virtually excluding all cats from my garden by putting spikes on the fence tops and growing roses over other access points.
Its taken a bit of work but my garden is now cat free and hedgehog friendly.

[Author]

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