Hog color experts?

[bayedsolid]

I'm not an expert on hog breeds besides knowing a few basics like Duroc and Hampshire etc..., so I was wondering if anybody knew what breed makes the hogs come come out Calico colored. The black with yellow or redish patches....or vice versa.

 

[500+grns]

Yes I do,
A black boar banged a red sow.

 

[bigtusker]

WOW, 500 plus grains and sharp too!!

 

[antlrcolectr]

We used to raise hogs back in the 70's and 80's. There is actually a breed called a Spot or Spotted. They range from almost all white with a few spots...almost all spots..and almost all black with some white on them.

When you have any combination of a Spot, Duroc, or Hamp, you can come out with red spots, red and white spots, red, white and black, black and white, you name it. But a spot needs to be one ingredient. Usually you don't get a lot of spots unless the Sow is a Spot to begin with.

AC

 

[RIFLEMAN]

bayed,

I raised hogs in 4-H and FFA, so I can lend a little bit of insight.

The domesticated breed closest to the coat pattern that you speak of is the Spotted Poland China, now given their own recognition as the Spotted Hog or Spots. Given their relative obscurity here, I doubt very much that there are ferals with variant strains of the Poland China.

The spotted pattern in feral hogs has less to do with a single breed and more to do with the cross breeding of individuals with ancestors of different breeds. What antlrcolectr said is largely true, except for the fact that you do not have to have a spotted hog in the mix to make spotted hogs; crossing a purebred Yorkshire with a purebred Hampshire will produce spotted hogs.

Perhaps a geneticist on the site could speak to the determination of coat color at the allele level and identify the coat patterns that are created according to dominant and recessive alleles.

 

[bigtusker]

I agree with rifleman so what 500+ said is true.

 

[antlrcolectr]

Nothin get by you does it big-t...
I agree with you too Rifleman-I doubt there are many spots or poland chinas around anymore nowdays, and the spots are from a lot of crossbreeding.
We did some of the genetics in college years ago- I started out as an aggie major, but I really don't remember much of anything except what I learned from the farm..

AC

 

[spectr17]

So how come we don't see albino wild hogs pics or melanistic hog pics like you do for turkey, deer, coyotes etc?

I can't recall any ever? Any else?

 

[bayedsolid]

Thanks for the info. Calico's are my favorite color to run across.

 

[RLL]

Here in Texas we call them Piebalds ... not sure why. Most people say it comes from inbreeding. Not sure about the accuracy of that belief ... but I sure like Piebalds.

 

[RIFLEMAN]

bayed,

Let me know if you need some company on one of those calico-hog hunting trips of yours. I get stuck with your run-of-the-mill black hogs up here in my neck of the woods.

RLL,

Here in Texas we call them Piebalds ... not sure why.

Probably because they resemble the piebald-patterned horse.

 

[bayedsolid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Let me know if you need some company on one of those calico-hog hunting trips of yours. I get stuck with your run-of-the-mill black hogs up here in my neck of the woods.[/b]

I don't run across them too often, which is maybe why I like them so much. Maybe 1 out of 40 or 50 on average. As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever caught a sow that color either. Any reasoning to that that you can think of?

 

[RIFLEMAN]

As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever caught a sow that color either. Any reasoning to that that you can think of?

Without a large enough sample, we can't be sure that calico sows are rare or nonexistent, but if we were to make that assumption, it may be that this particuliar coat color would be what is known as a sex linked trait. If this is true, the calico gene would be carried by sows but only expressed (seen) within boars.

RLL, have you Texas boys ever caught a piebald sow?


We really need a geneticist to pipe in.

 

[boarcrz]

Bayedsolid, what general area do you hunt?
I hunt a lot(no dogs) around King city including FHL and I have shot a few calico sows. If its a big heard then I always see bigger blacks and reds with calicos. Smaller calicos are cute but the big ones....
Ones I've shot had coarse blond hair in colored patches almost look alike as if they were carrying wild flower seeds on them.

 

[bayedsolid]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

Bayedsolid, what general area do you hunt?
I hunt a lot(no dogs) around King city including FHL and I have shot a few calico sows.[/b]

I live in the foothills near Fresno but hunt just about everywhere. My gas bills are rediculous. I guess it must be coincidence that I haven't caught a calico sow....or at least I don't remember any being sows. I don't see very many multi colored hogs or belted hogs in my neck of the woods either. Most of the time they are really "pure" looking genes except for the occasional calico. Here is a pic of the typical colored hog (on the left) which look pretty nice to me, and a calico (which are a cool find too). This one only had 2" but we've caught some real monsters so they do grow nice teeth.

 

[RLL]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RIFLEMAN @ Dec 8 2006, 10:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

As far as I can remember, I don't think I've ever caught a sow that color either. RLL, have you Texas boys ever caught a piebald sow?

Yes. Here is a pic of 11 pigs I trapped last January. 7 or 8 of them were piebalds ... and several were females.

 

[bayedsolid]

RLL-- Those are a little different than what I was talking about. The color I was meaning was like in the picture above that I posted. Only 2 colors, black and blond. Don't know if it makes a difference or not but just so we are comparing apples to apples. Nice catch though. Looks like you saved a few new lawns in the area.