

Body: Bristly hair, short legs, and a cartilaginous snout.That’s why most people, especially pig farmers, prefer to classify these animals by weight and mass. You can see where the confusion comes in because simply saying a swine a few years old is referred to as a pig doesn’t exactly give you the best definition. A hog, therefore, is an older pig that is much bigger. On the other hand, if the swine is fully grown and large in number, it’s often referred to as a hog. It’s therefore customary to refer to a swine that is only a few years old as a pig. This is often the name given to an animal that’s just a few years old. In many states in the US, such as South Carolina, you will find most people referring to a young domesticated swine as a pig. At least, that’s the case in North America. The main difference can be found in the age and size of the specific animal. Pigs and hogs belong to the Suidae family and are technically related, but they are NOT the same thing. Is a Hog the Same as a Pig? Hogs and pigs aren’t the same That is to say that your domesticated pig or domesticated swine was once a feral pig.Īs you can see, one of the main reasons why these names are often interchangeable and people confuse pigs for hogs and swine is that they are related and technically come from the same ancestry. They were mostly crossbred into these subspecies. Most pigs you see today are a subspecies of the Eurasian boar. Since wild boars are the ancestors, everything else, from pigs to hogs and swine, is a subspecies of the wild boar. Wild boars come in many sizes, are hairy, and have tusks. These wild boars-a boar is a name given to a male pig-are mostly found in Asia, North America, North Africa, and Europe. The wild boar (Sus Scrofa), which you are likely to encounter in the woods, are thought to be the original family members from which the domesticated swine or pig descended. Pigs belong to the Suidae family-even-toed ungulate animals-which encompasses pigs, swine, and boar. But first, let’s take a look at why these animals tend to be confused by one another. However, the terms aren’t just cute nicknames people give these animals in different regions. To say that there are similarities would be to state the obvious.

After all, they all like wallowing in the mud, and the sows (female pigs), be it feral sows or domesticated, have the same gestation period and, in many cases, the same mothering instincts. On the face of it, there isn’t much of a difference between these animals. So, what is the difference between a hog vs pig? Hog vs Pig However, you will most likely come across the name pig more often than not. In fact, in many places, these names are interchangeable.

Pigs are known by various names, from hog to boar and swine.
