Well, in the end the hog feed may be the same price depending on how much is wasted. I am currently looking for something different because of this. They do eat it if they are hungry enough. I had one colony that I ended up culling because they would eat their litter before touching the hog feed. I use Pro Stock if you can get it in your area. Also, if you use hog feed, think of also grabbing pro stock hen/chicken scratch. That really helps them get over the taste of the hog feed. I have wasted less hog feed adding chicken scratch.