REDISCOVERING AN ANCIENT TREASURE
ORIGINAL HISTORY
According to the Livestock Conservancy, the Argente Brun rabbit breed first appeared in the late 1800s in France but disappeared in the early 20th century. Interest was revitalized by rabbit fancier H.D.H. Dowle who, from 1939 to 1941, worked to recreate these beautiful rabbits. Using Argente Creme and Bleu bloodlines along with some introduction of Havana and possibly Brown Beveren, after a few generations, the Brun was back. Their signature silver frosted brown coat makes them an eye-catching breed to turn heads on a show floor.
The British Rabbit Council standard called for it to be an attractive, evenly and entirely silver chocolate variety of the Argente group, similar to the size and other characteristics to the Bleu, Creme and Noir. The better known Champagne was quite a bit larger with a slightly softer, more open coat and therefore not a part of the new breed development.
(Note: only the Brun, Creme, and Champagne are currently recognized breeds in the US)
The Brun temperament is friendly and sweet if worked with at a young age. Mothering ability is excellent with an average litter size of around 8 kits. The breed is well-sized for meat production, reaching a mature weight of ideally 9 pounds.
MODERN DAY DISCOVERY
The American journey to the Argente Brun breed is a unique story. In fact, it was purely by accident. In 2005 in Canada, Ed White discovered a chocolate surprise in a litter of seven Champagne d'Argents. He was familiar with the British standard for the breed and recognized the young male was quite special. A subsequent litter from the same pair later produced 2 more chocolates, another male and a female. With careful, selective line breeding, he was able to produce several more chocolate youngsters and a "new" old breed was well on its way to being established. The name Argente Brun was retained in interest of worldwide consistency.
The Argente Brun breed was accepted by the DR&CBS Standards Committee in Canada in 2008.
MAKING HISTORY
In 2008 and 2009, Charmaine Wardrop from Washington State, a breeder of Creme and Champagne d'Argents, was looking for a new breed to work with.
She stumbled across a website that listed Argente Bruns. That discovery eventually put her in touch with Ed White where she purchased her initial stock and began the process of acceptance into the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA).
On November 9, 2009 Charmaine and her late husband Floyd were issued an ARBA Certificate of Development (COD) for the Argente Brun.
ARBA was very rigid in their acceptance of this foreign breed due to their similarities with the Champagne d'Argents. A lot of collaboration, research, reviewing the British and Dominion Standards, several drafts, and much rewording went into creating the Standard of Perfection (SOP) before it eventually met ARBA's strict rules. Once the COD was issued, it had to then pass its presentation at three ARBA conventions.
During the 2015, ARBA Convention, the Argente Brun successfully passed for the third year in a row and was officially excepted by the ARBA.
"I just prayed that they would pass again and that the people could see the worthiness," Charmaine Wardrop said.
On February 1st, 2016 the Argente Brun was officially recognized by ARBA.
Becoming the 49th breed. The largest new rabbit breed recognized by ARBA in nearly 30 years.
