The breed is easily distinguishable by its neck wattle
I never personally interacted with a Red Wattle before, so my curious was peaked a bit as I did my research for this article. Being a breed that is unique to North America, I was curious as to why they had slipped past my general knowledge of the species.
History of the Red Wattle Breed
Taking a page from the Duroc, the origins of the Red Wattle is not completely clear. The general consensus is that they were imported from New Caledonia through the Gulf of Mexico, and then spread out through East Texas and New Orleans area.
Due to the heavy Cajun influence in the area at this time, the Red Wattle was extremely popular during the 18th and 19th century with its unique robustness. These early generation red hogs eventually became the first descendants of todays version during the 1960’s in East Texas.
Attempts to promote and grow the popularity of the breed had been a bit uncooperative as the breed has continued growing. The man to rediscover the breed, HC Wengler, started the first line called Wengler Red Wattle by cross breeding two sows with a Duroc. Twenty years later in the 90’s, the Timberline line was founded when a new herd was discovered by Robert Prentice. The two men decided to cross breed their two lines to create the Endow Farm Wattle Hogs line.
An organization named The Livestock Conservatory set up a meeting with Wengler & Prentice with intentions to help unify all three lines, but a decision was made to keep the three lines as separate registries. It was not until 2001 until The Red Wattle Hog Association was founded in help by The Livestock Conservatory and currently has 100 members.
Status as a Heritage Breed
A heritage breed is a term assigned to a nearly extinct species that has been around for a long time and does not perform well in mass production farm settings. The modern generation was close never existing, as the hog almost went extinct when settlers began migrating further west from the south.
Settlers needed to be as efficient as possible, so they transitioned to using hogs of higher fat content that could make soap and lard in addition to meat. As their owners went west, the hogs were left behind to wander the lands, hunted close to extinction.
The United States was under the impression that the breed had gone extinct until right up until the late 1960’s. A wild herd was discovered by HC Wengler and it was decided at that point to begin breeding them once again.
Characteristics of the Red Wattle
While the neck wattle is the main identifier of the breed, its ironically serves no known function. Red is the most commons shade of color, but it can range from light blonde to almost black. The breeds additional qualities are the following:
- Rapid Weight Growth
- Foraging Skills
- Hardiness
- Flavorful & Well Marbled Meat
- Provide High Quality Milk For Their Litters
| Male | Female | |
| Weight | 750lbs / 340kg | 550lbs / 249kg |
| Height | 4 ft / 120cm | 4 ft / 120cm |
| Length | 8 ft / 240cm | 8 ft / 240cm |
Other Facts
- The Iowa State fair saw a record setting day in 2012 when a Red Wattle named Reggie came weighing in at 1,335 pounds
- The organization Slow Food USA has listed the Red Wattle in its Ark of Taste, which is a catalogue of heritage breed foods