Best Hog Feeder of 2021 | Reviews & Buying Guide
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Looking for a practical, cost-effective solution for feeding those hogs? You’ll obviously be wanting a feeder designed especially for hogs. You’ll want to go for a model that matches the area and amount of hogs you will have in it using the feeder. Another thing that needs consideration is the type and quality of material that’s used to ensure it stands up to the challenge of being used a lot. Also, depending on the number of hogs you intend on feeding, you’ll want to consider the capacity that each model offers. You may even want to go for one that supports the attachment of feeder kill lights, it all comes down to preference and how you intend to use them.
This might make purchasing a quality model sound like hard work, but we’ve simplified everything for you below. Let’s get into our detailed reviews of the best hog feeders to buy.
Top 5 Rated Models Comparison Table
Image | Hog Feeder | Capacity | Feeds | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Brower 11H Single Door Hog Feeder Editors Choice | 1.5 bushels (34kg) | 4 hogs | ||
3.7 bushels (84 kg) | 8 hogs | |||
50 lbs | 4 hogs | |||
4 quarts | 2 hogs |
Reviews of the Best Hog Feeders
The Brower 11H Single Door Feeder is built from heavy, 20-guage galvanized steel, that will last a lifetime. It can hold 1.5 bushels (34kg) of feed – enough for 4 hogs – and is designed to handle feed for pigs anywhere from 4 weeks old, to sows.
The trough lid is designed to be weather-tight, keeping rain and moisture out and the feed fresh. The feed gate is adjustable and features a 1” wide feed saver lip.
Despite the heavy-duty steel construction, the Brower 11H isn’t easy to attach for affix to anything. Many people find it too weak for feeding hogs, and hogs can rip it off the two tiny screw holes provided on the rear or attaching it. You will want to ensure it is firmly attached to a post before letting the hogs eat out of it, but many people find there is no good way to attach it to anything.
The Brower 11H is a great hog feeder on its own; the build itself is strong, keeps water out, and holds enough feed for several hogs at once. But there is no sturdy attachment system, which knocks it down a few pegs in our book.
Pros
- Heavy-duty, 20-guage galvanized steel
- Holds 1.5 bushels of feed
- Weather-tight lid
- Adjustable feed gate, feed saver lip
Cons
- Bad Attachment options
Verdict: Best Overall
#2. Kane BBD Big Bin 40lb
The Big Bin from Kane is a hefty-duty but lightweight and convenient hog feeder that mounts directly on your wall, saving space and making filling more convenient. It’s made from a high-density polyethylene that is both strong and weighs a lot less than steel, and is non-porous, ensuring bacteria and odors can’t grow and spoil the hog feed. It has a capacity of 40 lbs of feed.
The food is dispensed with the pull lever, and it comes out slowly enough for you to control precisely much food is released with every pull. And there’s a clear plastic window on the front of the feeder that lets you see how much food is left. On the back are pre-drilled mounting holes for mounting the Big Bin on the wall.
Complaints? As with the Brower 11H, the Big Bin has weak attachment points, making it hard to mount on the wall. The drilled holes and plastic are just not strong enough to support 40 pounds of feed hanging from a wall, and they will stretch and wear down over time, sagging if not falling off completely.
Overall, the Big Bin is a quality, hefty-duty feeder with a good design and great materials, but the poor mounting holes kill the excitement a bit.
Pros
- Tough construction
- 40Lb Capacity
- Wall-mounting
- Convenient pull lever
Cons
- Poor mounting system
The Brower 22H is much like the Brower 11H, but with more twice the capacity and two feeder doors. In fact, it is essentially two 11H’s put next to each to each other – hence the name – but with a slightly larger capacity in each feeder, with a total capacity of 3.7 bushels or 84Kg of feed. Thus, it can feed up to 8 hogs at once.
Like the 11H, the 22H is made from heavy-duty 20-guage galvanized steel, with a weatherproof lid, feeder lip, and adjustable feed gate. The top cover also raises from the back, allowing for filling without getting in the hogs’ way.
Unfortunately, like the 11H, it is also poorly designed and built when it comes to mounting. The holes are too small to use any meaningful screws or bolts and doubling the weight load only increases the problem. If you’d like it secured and locked down, you’ll need to do some of your own drilling and be a bit creative to come up with a solution. Some people have also complained of the feeder lip bending under rough use form the hogs.
Other than that, the Brower 22H is a sturdy, basic hog feeder that can hold quite a bit of food, for up to 8 hogs, while keeping the food dry and fresh.
Pros
- 3.7-bushel capacity (84kg)
- Heavy-duty, 20-guage galvanized steel
- Weather-tight lid
- Adjustable feed gate, feed saver lip
Cons
- Poor Mounting holes
- Feeder lip can warp
- Expensive
This hog feeder from Miller boasts a capacity of 50 pounds of feed, and is made with double galvanized, heavy-gauge steel for a serious, heavy-duty construction that will withstand just about anything – even a couple of hungry hogs.
The feed door is designed to seal moisture out, and prevent rodents and bugs from getting in, but can also be wired open for easier access for the hogs. It also has a feed-saver lip to ensure nothing is wasted, while the top door is designed to open from behind, for filling from outside the pen.
Now, despite the heavy-duty steel body, the Miller feeder suffers from some of the same problems as others – it just falls apart easily. The bolts and screws used are cheap, and the mounting holes are poorly thought out, like the Brower feeders.
It’s a solid piece of metal on its own, and holds a decent amount of feed, but you could spend just a few dollars more and get something larger – like the Brower 11H.
Pros
- Serious, thick, double-galvanized steel
- Feeder lid, top lid keeps moisture, bugs, rodents out
- Feed-saver lip
Cons
- Cheap bolts, screws. Falls apart
- Bad mounting holes
Lastly, the cheapest, simplest feeder you’re going to find – the Little Giant Fence Feeder. It’s nothing more than a plastic trough – similar to a bucket – with some heavy-duty carabiners for clipping it into the pen fence. It’s made from high-density polyethylene and holds a total of 4 quarts of dry feed – not a lot, but enough to feed a couple of pigs at a time.
The Little Giant Fence Feeder can also be mounted permanently onto your wall or rail, either with normal fencing staples, or with lag screws. It weighs about a pound, and has no real components, making it an excellent, lightweight, simple and sturdy design.
Just a couple things to keep in mind: First, yes, it is quite small – it’s not meant to feed a lot of hogs, and if you want to use it for that, you’ll need to refill it more often – throughout the day, at least. Second, the plastic comes with a strong, chemical, plastic smell that takes a long time to fade – it smells bad and can turn hogs off from the food. You’ll want to wash it and let the smell fade before using.
Otherwise, this is our Budget Buy winner. A cheap, easy, well-made feeder that gets the job done.
Pros
- Cheap
- Tough polyethylene plastic
- Attaches to fences, posts, walls
- Simple and light
Cons
- Small 4-quart capacity
- Smells strongly like plastic
What to Look For In a Good Feeder for Hogs
Capacity
This is likely the first consideration you need to look at when choosing a hog feeder: how much feed can your hog feeder hold, and how many hogs can it feed at once? How many hogs do you have, or foresee needing to feed? Hog feeders can hold enough food for anywhere from 2 hogs to over a dozen; for the purposes of our review, we’ll stick with feeders with enough feed for 4-8 hogs at once.
Mounting Options
Can the feeder be mounted to the wall or a feeder post? How about to the side of the pen? It’s a good idea to have it securely fastened to something heavy, which will help keep it stable and upright as the hogs eat from it, keep it from tipping over, and even keep it from being too badly damaged.
Most hog feeders come with pre-drilled mounting holes on the back, but these holes aren’t always large or strong enough to support all the weight a full feeder presents – which can weight anywhere from 40 to over 150 pounds.
Feed Gate and Feeder Lip
An adjustable feed gate will allow you control how much hog feed is released at once, and help it come out smoothly, as opposed to dumping out all at once. Likewise, a feeder lip will prevent feed from spilling all over the ground and being wasted.
Finally, look at the lid; does it close securely, and does it create a seal that keeps moisture and bugs out of the food? Both of those can greatly affect your feed’s shelf life and cause it to spoil, but a secure, tight-fitting lid can help avoid them.
Material
There’s a few options for materials when choosing a hog feeder, actually; steel and polycarbonate are the most popular.
Steel’s benefits are obvious: it’s tough, heavy-duty and built to last. Generally, hog feeders use galvanized steel, which adds both rust protection and hardness and will help your feeder last a heck of a lot longer. In most cases, you want a steel hog feeder, and definitely want it to come galvanized so it doesn’t rust in the rain.
Polycarbonate and other plastic materials are also common, their advantages being that they are lighter and much cheaper than steel. The downside, of course, is that polycarbonate and other plastics are not nearly as durable as steel; a poly feeder can be more easily damaged by the hogs than steel can, and may not last as long.
Mounting Options
Can the feeder be mounted to the wall or a feeder post? How about to the side of the pen? It’s a good idea to have it securely fastened to something heavy, which will help keep it stable and upright as the hogs eat from it, keep it from tipping over, and even keep it from being too badly damaged.
Most hog feeders come with pre-drilled mounting holes on the back, but these holes aren’t always large or strong enough to support all the weight a full feeder presents – which can weight anywhere from 40 to over 150 pounds.
Final Thoughts
So, all in all, our recommendation for the best Hog Feeder is the Brower 11H. It’s got a good size feed capacity, is made from some ultra-tough, thick heavy-gauge steel, and a weather-tight lid and adjustable feed gate that makes feeding the hogs easy. It could be improved with heavier-duty mounting holes, but is otherwise an excellent, all-around feeder.
If you don’t want to spend that much and don’t need such a large feed, and don’t mind plastic, the Little Giant Fence Feeder is another excellent choice, at a fraction of the cost. It doesn’t hold nearly as much feed and isn’t nearly as heavy-duty but will get the job done. And, it’s super simple to setup and use.
Whichever one you believe is right for you, it’ll be sure to keep your hogs fed and happy.