One of the things we have committed to in our rabbitry is raising rare breeds in as quality a manner as possible. That means not only breeding them, but also culling hard toward the breed standard and promoting them whenever possible.
One of our breeds is the Blanc de Hotot. It is ranked #1 on the Rare Breed list and adds a certain challenge to the breeder because it is a marked breed – the Standard of Perfection calls for evenly marked black eye bands — “spectacles— round dark eyes on a perfectly white rabbit. Additionally, the fur has a frosty appearance due to longer guard hairs.
In our litters we often have show marked rabbits, as well as “sports,” those rabbits who aren’t completely white and have black markings on them in random spots. We see our spots most often in between the ears or along the spine. Unless a sport has incredible body type, we cull them out of our program, and are working toward having exclusively show marked rabbits. But it’s a long process!
One thing that often confuses people is that there is a difference between a Dwarf Hotot and a Blanc de Hotot. The Blanc de Hotot is what we raise, and it is a commercial breed rabbit… BIG! It’s comparable to a Champagne d’Argent, Satin, Silver Fox, Californian, or New Zealand. The Dwarf Hotot is also white with black eye bands but it’s a little thing, more along the lines of a Netherland Dwarf. It’s much more common to see Dwarf Hotot around, we have often gotten comments from people who are shocked at the size of the Blanc de Hotot because they’ve never seen them in real life!
Since the Blanc de Hotot are a rare breed rabbit, it’s often difficult to figure out where other breeders are located. There is a facebook group called Blanc de Hotot rabbit breeders that has been very helpful to us as we have gotten more involved with the breed. We recently came up with a breeder listing and now have a map to generally see where people are located:
We’re a small but mighty group! Would you like to join us in preserving this rare breed?!
Doesn’t Arizona look lonely?! It’s just our single little dot on the map! We’d sure love to see other Blanc de Hotot breeders come forward and work with us to preserve this breed! They’re funny rabbits, solid for meat production, curious in temperament, and in need of people to work on improving their type and competitiveness!
Tagged: Blanc de Hotot, bunny with black eyes, meat rabbits, show rabbits, what is the most rare rabbit?
Mad Hatter Rabbits & MicroFarm 
The Hotots are a stunningly beautiful rabbit, and one of the breeds I considered for my rabbitry. I ended up going with Creme d’Argent, but still had a hard time finding them. The closest breeder is over 300 miles away. Like you, I’m pretty sure I’m the lone breeder in my state! Kudos for helping preserve the rarest of the rare! 🙂
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Cremes are beautiful rabbits as well! It’s a rewarding challenge to raise a rare breed!
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We fell in love with the hotot breeds after my partner and our youngest daughter talked me into a rabbit, with the rabbit’s help of course. We were told she was a dwarf hotot but looking at her size and ears I am wondering if she isn’t a Blanc de Hotot.
We are interested in learning as much as we can about these rabbits and in learning discovered they were endangered and are considering raising them to help preserve their breed. Any advice or information, please and thank you.
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I hope this website will help! We love them!
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I love what you’re doing and I hope you’re still going strong. I live in Colorado where there are seemingly no full size Hotot rabbits for sale and we fell in love years ago and are ready to adopt a doe. Any leads? If not I love Arizona and it would be worth the drive!
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I don’t know of breeders in Colorado. Check the ARBA breeder directory – maybe someone new has popped up!
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Are y’all still breeding Blanc de Hothots??
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Yes we are!
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Are you still breeding Blanc de Hotots??
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Yes we are!
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