Guinea Hog

About the Guinea Hog

The Guinea Hog is a small, black domestic pig breed that originated in the southeastern United States. It has gone by several older names, including Acorn Eater, Guinea Forest Hog, Pineywoods Guinea, and Yard Pig, before being officially renamed the American Guinea Hog in 2006. Its exact origin is unknown, though a link to the Essex pig of eastern England has been suggested. It is a distinct breed from an older, larger red pig once also called the Guinea Hog or Red Guinea, which was raised in the northeastern United States and disappeared by the late 19th century, apparently merging into the population that would later form the modern Duroc breed.

The breed has a sturdy body, a curly tail, and upright ears, and its coat is usually black, sometimes with white markings on the snout tip and lower legs. Red and blue coloring have also been documented historically and still occasionally appear, though blue coloring can also result from vitiligo. There are two recognized sub-types within the breed, one small-boned and one large-boned with longer legs, and the length of the snout and overall bone structure can vary considerably between individual animals.

This traditional rural breed was first documented in 1811 and was raised widely across the rural Southeast, well suited to small farms, through the first half of the 20th century. Numbers then fell sharply in the second half of the century. A breed association, the Guinea Hog Association, formed in 1991 and became the American Guinea Hog Association in 2005. The breed is included in the Ark of Taste, a project of the international Slow Food Foundation that catalogs foods and breeds at risk of disappearing.

Behavior and diet

The breed has an unusual place in research history: feral Guinea Hogs from Alabama were brought to the Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul starting in 1949, where they were used alongside feral pigs from other regions in developing the now-extinct Minnesota Miniature, also known as the Hormel breed of miniature pig.

Range and habitat

The Guinea Hog is native to the southeastern United States, where it has been raised since at least the early 19th century on smallholdings and family farms suited to extensive, low-input management. It is not connected to a similarly named African suid, Potamochoerus porcus, that was reported present in Brazil in the 17th century, nor to the unrelated Red Guinea pig breed once found in the northeastern United States.

Conservation status

As a domestic pig breed, the Guinea Hog is Not Evaluated (NE) on the IUCN Red List, which assesses wild species rather than livestock breeds. As a breed, though, it is rare and is described as endangered.

Its numbers fell sharply during the second half of the 20th century, and by 2009 the entire breed was estimated at no more than 400 animals. Breeders formed the Guinea Hog Association in 1991, which became the American Guinea Hog Association in 2005, and the breed is included in the Slow Food Foundation's Ark of Taste.