Profile View of a Duroc Hog
Durocs were personally my favorite breed to raise during my time in 4-H. One year, we had a Duroc that we ended up giving the nickname of “Houdini”. She had an ability to always hop the fence of her pen and have her own adventures around the farm.
Trust me when I saw you would have enjoyed seeing my families faces the first time we saw she had hopped the fence and made her way through the screen doggie door into the house. I also experienced an incredible opportunity in helping raise a Duroc throughout the entire stage of its pregnancy as a 4-H project.
History of the Duroc Breed
While it has always been up for debate where the origin of the Duroc truly came from, there are a few popular theories. Initially being discovered in the New England area (New Jersey & New York) around the year 1800, making it one of the few breeds to have originated in the United States.
The Duroc name originated from an interaction of two men who live in New York in 1823. Harry Kelsey gifted a red boar to Isaac Frink, whom gave the boar the breeds name as an honor to Harry’s famous trotting stallion named Duroc.
The deep red color has been a constant staple of the duroc throughout its history. Some have used that red color as their reason for thinking that the Duroc came from the results of cross breeding with Berkshires, which were also a shade of red at the time. Another theory involved the salve trade industry. They claim that slave traders captured Durocs and imported them to the US at the same time.
Advancement of Duroc Influence
No breed has been able to add to their overall population numbers faster than the Duroc breed. Breeders and farmers needed some form of recording this incredible grow, which birthed the first organization for red breeds, The American Duroc-Jersey Association in 1883.
An event that truly gave the Duroc momentum was the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair, where the first successful Duroc Hog Show led to wide popularity.
The Agricultural Building at the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair
With so many Durocs in the US at one time, there ended up being multiple organizations that were keeping records of the Duroc. It became increasingly more obvious that as the population of the breed grew, a unified registry was needed to guide the expansion of Durocs. This need in turn led to the founding of the United Duroc Swine Registry in Illinois in 1934.
Durocs Popularity in the Meat Industry
The Duroc breed can consider its position as the second most recorded breed in the world due to its known consistency for quality meat. While it may sound negative at first the breed is called a “terminal bred” which means it can be sow above-average size litters and grows quickly.
There are very few cons to farmers using the Duroc breed as their main meat producer. The biggest benefit to the industry is their high maternal instinct and extremely docile behavior. Farmers and breeders will tell you that Durocs have countless perks as a breeding hog:
- Consistently thrive in various climates
- Incredible feed efficiency (The ability to convert less feed to more mass/muscle)
- Extremely docile nature leads to less accidents with farmers/breeders and other hogs
- High quality pork due to even fat distribution in their carcass
- Typically larger litter sizes compared to other breeds
Characteristics of Durocs
Durocs may be one of the easiest breeds to identify due to its various red colors that can vary between a lighter golden shade to a brick like red. Droopy ears are also a dead giveaway of the breed.
The size of the Duroc breed has progressivity gotten smaller over time. The weight range of Durocs can be approximately 500lbs – 750lbs, or 220kg – 340kg. Their longer bodies tend to have more leaner muscle than fat, with their shoulders and hams as the largest parts of their bodies. I found this tremendous comparison chart between Durocs and White hog breeds that provides a visual breakdown.
Differences between Duroc & White Breeds
Photo created by: Agroalimentaria Chico
Other Facts
- The Midwest has been home to the majority of the Durocs history, mostly residing in Nebraska, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, and Iowa
- All purebred durocs are some shade of red, but there have been cross breeding efforts to create a “White Duroc” by introducing white breed genetics