Blanc de Hotot Rabbit – Everything You Need to Know

The Blanc de Hotot is a beautiful pure white rabbit with black eye rims and a very pretty sweet face. They also have the temperament to match their sweet looks, but they are also really hardy, strong and sturdy rabbits. They are adaptable to most climates and environments as long as they have a cozy, comfortable bed to huddle down in and space to stretch their legs and work off their energy.

BREED PROFILE OVERVIEW
Breed Name:	Blanc de Hotot
Other Names:	None
Country of Origin:	France
Breed Purpose:	Meat, fur, show, and pets
Breed Size:	Large
Breed Weight:	Female/Doe: 4.1 to 5.0 kgs Male/Buck: 3.6 to 4.5 kgs
Breed Color(s):	White with fine black eye rings around their eyes (they look like they are wearing black-rimmed eye-glasses)
Physical Appearance:	They have commercial type body shape that is compact and well-rounded arching from their neck down to their pure white cotton tails. They have soft pretty faces with a long muzzle and little pink nose that is dusted with white. Their ears are not very long but erect and close together on their heads, tubular in shape. They have large dark eyes with black lashes framing them. Some females may have dewlaps. They have well-muscled front and back legs, a short neck and wide chest. Their coats are thick and have quite a few guard hairs which tend to give their coats a pearlescent sheen that some say looks like frost.
Temperament:	They are very active and lively rabbits. They like to be doing things, but they are also easy to handle, are hardy and quite friendly

BREED CHARACTERISTICS

The Blanc de Hotot breed has lustrous fur that is one of its most prominent features.
The females make excellent mothers and they have a good-sized litter with the young growing and reaching marketable weight fast.
They have a lifespan of around 5 to 8 years, but some have been known to live a healthy life in captivity of up to 10 years.
They are a breed that has exceptionally good eyesight, smell, and hearing which are great for their protection giving them great survival instincts.
They are a breed that is getting to be rare to find and are currently listed by the American Livestock Conservancy. The numbers of the breed are also a worldwide concern as they are also listed as an endangered species by a few other conservancy agencies around the world.

Good Pets?	They do make good pets for anyone even families with children of all ages. It is important that children learn all about the breed and rabbits, so they know how to handle them and treat them without either of them getting hurt.
Child Friendly?	Children should be supervised around animals and properly taught how to look after them and handle them. Rabbits can bite and scratch
Ideal Climate:	All climates – rabbits should never be left outside without proper shelter and housing that must be raised off the ground and predator safe.
Conservation Status:	Listed by the *ALC Status/Rarity: Threatened
Recognized by the ARBA?	Yes – recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association in 1979
Rabbit Associations/Clubs:	Hotot Rabbit Breeders International
Where to buy them?	Please check with either the ARBA or the Hotot Rabbit Breeders International for more information on where to get the Blanc de Hotot rabbit breed
Note: *ALC stands for American Livestock Conservancy

GENERAL INFORMATION

The Blanc de Hotot rabbit breed is a breed that is endangered around the world. It is need of help and support which can be given by contacting the relative conservancy agencies. Agencies such as the American Livestock Conservancy,

HISTORY

The Blanc de Hotot breed arose from a breeder’s goal to develop a rabbit breed that was pure white with black eyes. The rabbit breed was to be a true dual-purpose breed that had to have both good fur and meat qualities in order to meet this criterion.

The breed’s development is accredited to the second women ever to be credited with the development of a new rabbit breed. Eugenie Bernhard, chatelaine du Calvados of Hotot-en-Auge in Normandy, France. Quite close to the port of Le Havre in Northern France.

The project was underway in 1902 when she crossed the Papillon rabbit breed with White Flemish Giants and White Vienna rabbit breeds.
As her goal was very specific her progress was rather slow as she purposely selected various off-spring that met a certain criterion from the various 500 crosses. By 1912 she produced a pure white rabbit that is the base of the Blanc de Hotot breed as we know it today.

At Exposition Internationale d’Aviculture in Paris in 1920, she showed her new breed under the name of “Geant Blanc de Hotot”.
They were recognized as a breed by the French Governing body in October of 1922.

The Blanc de Hotot rabbit breed was first imported to the United States of America between 1921 to 1922 but the breed did not last and died out in the USA.

In 1927 they were imported to Switzerland who instantly took to their eye-bands appreciating the unique feature of the rabbit breed. But during the Second World War the Blanc de Hotot breed did not do so well and their population had all but diminished in countries such as France, Germany, and Holland.

Thanks to various European conservation groups and their efforts in Europe the breeds numbers are slowly climbing in Europe.

Bob Whitman of Texas in the United States of America imported 8 Blanc de Hotot rabbits from Fernand Eberli of France in 1978. In March of 1979, the breed was recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association.

In 2004 more Blanc de Hotots were imported to the United States of America from Germany, England, and Holland. Even though there have been quite a few more recent imports over the last decade the Blanc de Hotot breeds numbers are still in the “endangered species” category in North America.

They are a true dual-purpose breed that’s fur may require a bit of attention when they are molting but other than that they are a very sturdy, strong and hardy breed of rabbit. They do not mind being housed in an all wire rabbit hutch with a nice run and cozy safe, secure house to bed down in at night.
As with other rabbit breeds, they do tend to need quite a bit of hay to keep their teeth a decent length and stop any other health conditions that may occur is the teeth get too long and start to irritate the jaws.

They do love a diet of hay, fruits, and vegetables as treats on top of their rabbit pellets.