Feed house now has a resident
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Hello,
I have a hog house that for the past year has been used as a feeding station and I have had quite a few different hogs using it. Yesterday afternoon I went to put some food inside and noticed a hog asleep in there, this morning the hog is either still inside or came back this morning. My question is should I now leave this one as a nest box and make a new one for a feeding station so the others can enjoy the food or should I be worried that the hog is still inside this one?
Hi QuilliamShakespeare
Hogs do sometimes decide to spend the day in feed boxes. It happens from time to time here. They usually only stay a day or two and then move on. I usually then continue to use the box as a feed box. But once it is vacated, before you continue to use it as a feeding box, I would be inclined to clean it out with boiling water to get rid of any parasite eggs in any cracks (assuming it is wooden, not plastic). Because if a hog has been sleeping in there, there is more chance that it could have left some parasites or their eggs behind.
But it depends whether the hog has made a nest in there. I had a hog once who built a full blown hibernation nest in a feed box. As it happened he decided not to hibernate but used it for days intermittently and for naps between snacks. If there has been a nest built in your box I would leave it be and use something else for feeding.
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