It varies in color from golden to a dark reddish-brown; it is large-framed and muscular, of medium length, with partially-drooping ears.

The breed, one of several red pig strains which developed around 1800 in New England, originated in Africa.

One theory is that the pigs were imported from the Guinea coast of Africa at the time of the slave trade.

Another suggestion is that the red color came from the Berkshire pig from Britain, a breed that is now black, but at that time was rusty brown.

Today, it is a medium-sized breed with a moderately long body and a slightly dished face.