Choctaw Hog
A critically rare Spanish-derived hog of the Choctaw Nation.
The Choctaw Hog is a domestic pig breed with historic Native American use. Only a few hundred remain, mostly in Oklahoma’s Choctaw Nation. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists it as critically rare and a top conservation focus.
Quick Facts
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
History
The Choctaw Hog traces its roots to Spanish livestock introduced to the Americas in the 1500s. For more than three centuries, these pigs were raised by Native Americans, European settlers, and others across the Southeast. During the early 1800s, the Choctaw people were forced to relocate to Oklahoma, bringing their hogs along. A Choctaw will from 1858 mentions selling the hogs left at the family property. The modern Choctaw Hog, descended from those Oklahoma animals, has remained nearly unchanged for 150 years.
Description
Choctaw hogs have two distinctive characteristics from their Spanish ancestors: fused toes forming a single hoof like a mule's, and fleshy wattles on each side of the neck. They are black, sometimes with white markings, and relatively small at about 120 pounds. They are quick and athletic with heavy forequarters, built for survival. The breed is considered a pure Spanish breed, distinct from feral hog populations of mixed ancestry in the Choctaw National Wildlife Refuge area.
Cultivation
The Choctaw tribe still raises these hogs in Oklahoma. They require little care and are traditionally allowed to run free on open range, foraging for acorns, berries, invertebrates, and roots. With trained Catahoula Leopard dogs, hogs are rounded up periodically, earmarked, and sorted. Pigs kept for market are fattened with corn. The breed lacks a valuable market carcass, and there is no official Choctaw Hog registry. As industrial breeding favors white hogs for lean pork, these Spanish strains adapted for extensive systems are becoming rarer.
More in Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy
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