Spin feeder vs gravity feeder when hogs share your land

We haven't tested these units; scores come from published specs and the rubric on our How We Choose page. The three feeders compared here are all sold on Amazon, and every spec below links to the maker's page.

How each one works

A spin feeder (also called a broadcast feeder) holds feed in a hopper over a motor and a spin plate. At the times you program, the motor runs for a set number of seconds and the plate throws feed out in a circle. The Moultrie Pro Hunter III does this across 360 degrees off a metal spin plate, up to 10 times a day at 1 to 60 seconds each, with high, medium or low throw. It needs a battery, and it only puts feed out when the timer says so.

A gravity feeder has no motor. Feed flows down into ports or tubes, and animals eat it from there; as they eat, more feed drops in. It's "free-choice": available any hour an animal shows up. The Moultrie Gravity has no electronics or batteries at all, and the Boss Buck 350 feeds through three 10 in tubes set at a 10-degree angle, each with a drain hole.

That one difference, scheduled versus always available, drives almost everything else on this page. For the broader feeder picture, see the Feeders & Trail Cameras hub.

Spin feeder vs gravity feeder at a glance

Pen sizes are from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension publication L-5533, which reports the 28-foot exclosures its researchers built around broadcast corn feeders and a Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute suggestion for protein feeders (L-5533).

The three feeders side by side

The two Moultrie feeders are close to a controlled experiment: same maker, 250 lb class, 6 ft fill height, powder-coated steel legs, plastic hopper, 1-year warranty. The difference is the head: one has a motor and a Bluetooth timer, the other has ports. The Boss Buck is the heavier-duty gravity option, with a thick-wall HDPE hopper that Boss Buck says won't rot, rust or leak.

Which one feeds more hogs?

Both feed hogs. Texas A&M's Natural Resources Institute says feral pigs "have become accustomed to utilizing feeders as an easily accessible food source," that they "often dominate other species and push them away from feed," and that this "also occurs at feeding stations, which provide pelleted feed and other high-protein food sources" ( Texas A&M NRI, Dec. 2025). So the question isn't which design hogs ignore. It's which one gives you more control.

The spin feeder gives you two levers. First, timing: AgriLife notes that in warmer conditions feral hogs can "feed nocturnally" (AgriLife, Feral Hog Ecology), so daylight-only feedings leave less corn waiting after dark in the warm months. Second, amount: short runs put less corn on the ground at once. Neither lever stops a sounder that comes in by day or cleans up what the deer left.

The gravity feeder gives you none. Feed is there at 2 a.m. the same as at noon. Neither Moultrie nor Boss Buck publishes how high the ports sit or claims they're out of a hog's reach, so plan as if hogs can eat from them. A gravity feeder that hogs find will be emptied on their schedule, not yours.

That's why the spin feeder wins this matchup in hog country, narrowly. But notice what both paragraphs have in common: the feeder only manages the problem. The fix is a pen, and our best hog-proof deer feeders guide walks through the research and the build.

Pens: why a gravity feeder needs a bigger one

AgriLife's guidance for a deer feeder is a short fence "28 inches to 34 inches in height" around the area where food is spread; hogs stay out and deer "can easily jump a fence of that height" ( AgriLife, Preventative Options). How big the pen needs to be is where the two designs split.

• Spin feeder: the L-5533 researchers used 28-foot circles around broadcast corn feeders, and the 28 and 34 inch fences "kept them out completely." The pen has to contain the throw, so turn the throw down until the corn lands inside a 14-foot radius.
• Gravity feeder: there's no throw to contain, but deer crowd at ports. The Caesar Kleberg researchers "suggested that fences be 80 by 80 feet or larger to prevent deer from crowding while feeding" around protein feeders (L-5533). The NRI's 2025 article calls a 30 by 30 foot circle "reasonable and consistent with published studies" for feeders generally.

Run the fence math with 16-foot panels:

A protein pen at the suggested size takes more than three times the panel and T-posts of a corn pen. That's the hidden cost of a gravity protein program in hog country, and it belongs in the budget before you buy the feeder.

Setting up a spin feeder inside a pen

A spin feeder and a pen can work against each other if the throw is wrong. A 28-foot pen has a 14-foot radius, so any corn thrown past 14 feet lands outside the fence, where hogs can reach it. Moultrie publishes high, medium and low throw settings for the Pro Hunter III but not the distance each one reaches, so you have to check it yourself:

1. Set the feeder where the pen will go, and set the throw to low.
2. Run one short feeding and pace off where the farthest corn landed.
3. Build the pen a little outside that line, or turn the throw down until the corn lands inside your planned circle.
4. Follow AgriLife's build: T-posts on the outside of the circle, panels clipped to them and set flush to the ground, with no gaps hogs might dig under (L-5533).
5. Schedule short daylight feedings, and put a camera on it for the first few weeks to confirm deer are using it and hogs aren't.

A gravity feeder skips steps 1 to 3 entirely: there's no throw, so the pen only has to be big enough for the deer. That's the one setup advantage gravity has inside a fence.

Corn or protein

AgriLife's L-5533 describes both uses: hunters use corn "as feed and as bait to attract them into hunting areas," and supplemental feed such as protein pellets "to increase antler scores, body weights, survival and fawn production." A spin feeder is built to throw corn on a schedule, which suits the hunting and baiting side. A gravity feeder suits free-choice protein: the Moultrie listing calls its gravity model "Protein Pellet Ready," and the Boss Buck holds about 300 lb of large protein pellets.

If you're baiting hogs on purpose, into a trap or a shooting lane, corn on a timer is the tool. AgriLife's trapping page lists deer corn and soured corn among common baits and wants bait there "every single day" ( AgriLife, Trapping). Our sour corn guide covers that bait.

Power, fill and upkeep

• Power. The Pro Hunter III needs a 6V tab-top rechargeable battery (sold separately) and is solar compatible. Both gravity feeders need nothing.
• Fill. The Moultrie pair both fill at 6 ft. The Boss Buck stands on 78 in legs and holds about 350 lb of corn, the most here.
• How fast it empties. A spin feeder empties at the rate you program, which you can budget (our feeder timer guide works the math on a published dispense rate). A gravity feeder empties at the rate animals eat, hogs included, and you can't schedule that.
• Weather. Boss Buck puts a drain hole in each port; Moultrie uses a twist-lock lid. The spinner's timer and motor are one more thing to fail, and the Moultrie spec lists a 14 to 140 °F operating range.

Converting later

Both gravity feeders here can become spin feeders. The Moultrie Gravity has a Quick-Lock head that swaps to a Moultrie spinner kit without tools, and Boss Buck says its 350 lb gravity feeder converts to an automatic 12V spinner. So if you start with gravity for protein and the hogs find it before you can build a big pen, you have a way to put the feed back on a schedule.

Which to buy

• Hogs are already on your corn and there's no pen yet: a spin feeder with short daylight feedings, then build a 28 to 34 inch pen. See how to keep hogs away from a deer feeder.
• You run summer protein for deer: a gravity feeder inside a large pen, sized for crowding.
• You want to shoot or trap the hogs: a spin feeder on a consistent daily schedule, with a camera on it so you know when the sounder comes.
• You can't get out to change batteries: gravity avoids the battery, but in hog country only with a pen. Otherwise you'll be refilling it for the hogs.