Chocobo Raising Guide

Forewarning

 * Please be aware that when your chocobo first grows up, it will not be faster then a rental chocobo. Do not expect to be running laps around someone no matter how hard you try, it will take time and probably multiple generations to get the fastest chocobo.
 * Don't be afraid to be stingy on feed, your chocobo won't care if you give it Gysahl Greens or Azouph Greens. As a reminder though, while the additional effect of foods is small, it is slightly noticeable if given in large quantities.
 * You won't be guaranteed a colored chocobo.
 * You cannot call a chocobo in any area that you cannot normally ride one. For example: The Northlands, Caedarva Mire, Tu'Lia among many others.
 * There are 0 benefits to force-feeding your chocobo. That includes benefits from food, potions, and other consumable items. In addition this may cause stomachaches.

What kind of Chocobo will you raise?
Now, if you're the kind of person who is dedicated enough to raise a chocobo, read on through this guide and decide what kind of chocobo you want to raise. Do you want a strong and tough type that will run at 2x the speed of others? Would you prefer an intelligent and emphatic one who can dig up all kinds of treasures for you? Maybe you'd prefer having a chocobo whose temperament is ideal for breeding with other chocobos? Or is a laid-back, all-rounder something more to your style?

Boy or Girl?
Male or Female? If you care which gender your chocobo ends up being, once it hatches, you might like to know that it seems very hard to actually get new eggs to be the other gender in the event that your first one turns out to be a disappointment to your expectations.

Beauty is Only Skin Deep
What will you do if your 19 day old chocobo turns out to have 0 chance at being a colored one? They really love to guilt you for giving up on your chocobo egg, chick and adolescents.

Step 2: Obtaining a Chocobo Egg
Currently, Chocobo Eggs can be obtained from certain Sanction battlefields (ISNM), Dabih Jajalioh in Ru'lude Gardens, by completing the quest Chocobo on the Loose!, or by breeding two chocobos. While there is only one name for the various items, "Chocobo Egg", they each have slightly different descriptions, possibly hinting that it may affect breed.

Step 3: Raise Affection
The first most critically important thing to do when raising a chocobo is to raise its affection level. This can easily be done by feeding your chick either Sharug Greens or Azouph Greens. Your chocobo will likely have its own personal preference toward either the sweet or bitter variety. The message "Chocobo gobbles up the [Favourite Greens] in a single gulp!" will probably mean that your chocobo favours that particular kind. You can then "Ask about your chocobo's condition" to check that the Affection Level really did improve. Another idea is that it may be better to feed your chocobo alternating greens to raise your chocobo's affection the fastest: 1x Sharug Greens, 1x Azouph Greens and 1x Sharug Greens; or vice versa; or just 1x, 1x and something else (ex: a carrot, a paste or whatever else).

Feeding 1 Green + 1 Carrot will completely fill a chocobo chick.

Feeding 1 Green + 1 Green + 1 Carrot will also completely fill a chocobo chick, which means that the order in which you feed your chocobo is important.

Whatever the best mix of feed is, it is known that your chocobo's affection level goes up at least one level each day that the ideal mix is fed to your chocobo. The goal is to have your chocobo reach a state of "High Spirits".

High Spirits

You know your chocobo is in high spirits when...


 * "Chocobo seems pretty perky lately. It should be responsive to anything you give it now."
 * "Chocobo is in high spirits."
 * "Chocobo has been receiving plenty of affection, and seems extremely happy. Your chocobo is in excellent condition now!"
 * "Regarding affection, it seems to regard you as its parent." (redundant if you have the above states, but worth mentioning)

This primed state of affection is fundamental to raising your chocobo's attributes quickly.

Step 4: Daily Care
Once you know just how affection improves your chocobo's growth, you can start setting it on various care plans to raise one of the following classes of chocobo: Balanced, Speed, Digger, Breeder.

Balanced Chocobo
Method 1: The following chocobo development guide has been noted in forums.

Raise affection to maximum and then do alternate between 7 days of Physique Care Plans with Intelligence Feeds and vice versa. The food is used as a substitute for maintaining your chocobo's attributes while you work on increasing the others.

'''Method 2: -Notice-  The following chocobo development guide is untested. Basic Care may actually be utterly useless.'''

Raise affection to maximum and then feed a daily, balanced mix of carrots: 1x Vomp Carrot, 1x Zegham Carrot and 1x San d'Orian Carrot. Stick exclusively to the Basic Care plan, or else your chocobo will never raise its attributes. Results come slower, but everything will be raised at the same time and is highly dependent on the carrot mix you provide. San d'Orian Carrot can be replaced with any Chocobo Medicine, if necessary. Affection should never be a problem with this path. You will likely end up with a chocobo which has attributes which are Average. Your chocobo's speed should be at least the same as a rental chocobo, with a fair amount of digging ability, too (assuming that rental chocobos have 0 for digging attributes).

Speed Chocobo
Raise affection to maximum and then feed a daily mix of mostly Vomp Carrot. For example: 3x Vomp Carrot; or 2x Vomp Carrot and 1x San d'Orian Carrot; or 2x Vomp Carrot and 1x Azouph Greens; etc. This food will help give little boosts to your chocobo's Strength and Endurance attributes. Zegham Carrots are utterly useless for the Speed Chocobo. Greens will help keep Affection up, when you use the higher-intensity care plans. Use care plans such as Take a Walk in Town, Exercise Alone, Exercise in a Group, Carry Packages and Deliver Messages. Be aware of your chocobo's affection levels! You will need to find a balance between using the Affection-lowering care plans and feeding your chocobo Azouph Greens or Sharug Greens.

Digger Chocobo
Raise affection to maximum and then feed a daily mix of mostly Zegham Carrot. For example: 3x Zegham Carrot; or 2x Zegham Carrot and 1x San d'Orian Carrot; or 2x Zegham Carrot and 1x Azouph Greens; etc. This food will help give little boosts to your chocobo's Discernment and Receptivity attributes. Vomp Carrots are utterly useless for the Digger Chocobo. Greens will help keep Affection up, when you use the higher-intensity care plans. Use care plans such as Listen to Music, Play with Children, Play with Other Chocobos, Exhibit to the Public, Dig for Treasure and Act in a Play. Be aware of your chocobo's affection levels! You will need to find a balance between using the Affection-lowering care plans and feeding your chocobo Azouph Greens or Sharug Greens.

Breeder Chocobo
I have learned through experience as a Chocobo breeder that by breeding chocobos it allows the passing of learned abilities from the chosen parent (you can chose which parent in Jeuno by purchasing the correct ticket) to the new chick, and I have good reason to believe that color is passed along with it.

For instance, my current blue male had a blue mother, and my previous black female had a black mother. Also when using the new "Kamp Kweh" 'Mating Compatability' system, it will show you that if you breed a colored chocobo, the chick will also be that color.

With these facts present, I believe we can all assume that color does make a difference when breeding.


 * I bred a female black chocobo by a male blue, using the plan which made a female chick more likely but not necessarily inheriting traits from a specific parent. The chick ended up female black with auto-regen, an ability known by both parents.

Chocobo Remedies
From personal experience, one unit of recommended medicinal grass/paste is usually sufficient, and two is the most I've ever needed to give at one time.

I have discovered that if I feed the chocobo the medicinal grass/paste until the VHS trainer says something to the effect of "I hope it gets well soon", then it will get well by the next update. If I only feed it one piece and the trainer does not comment, it always needs more medicinal feed the next update and has often become even more sick.

Love Struck
If your chocobo has become love struck, the VCS trainer will tell you that your chocobo appears to be in love. It will hang its head as if sick and will behave as such. (It will even have hearts floating above its head.) The remedy to this is to breed your chocobo with another one. If you breed your chocobo the same day that you are told it is in love, its "ailment" will be cured by the next real-time day. It has been my experience that if you ignore your chocobo's love struck status its affection for you will take a small dip and it will most likely become sick with another ailment in roughly 3-4 days. The love struck condition typically lasts 1-2 days if not remedied.


 * From personal experience, tested after reading this guide, breeding within the first day is not 100% effective. My chocobo was bred and the egg picked up before her next update, and she was still lovesick.  In my experience lovesickness can last for up to an RL week, and celerity salad, fed at any point, has solved the problem.
 * Whoever wrote the original post for this condition does not understand the seriousness of chocobos being in love. Before the December 2006 update being in love was the worst status effect that could be inflicted upon your chocobo, as it completely negated all care plan benefits.  To make matters worse, the only sure-fire cure is a Celerity Salad which is usually very expensive.  There was no guarantee that the chocobo would not fall in love again the very next day, which happened to me once.  The love sick condition also does not always go away in 1-2 days.  In many, many cases the sickness has lasted for a week or longer.  I would say the original poster lucky more than anything.  Extensive testing has been done on this condition by the FFXIclopedia chocobo raising community.  You can view the thread [here].  I will not edit the original post here because nothing is 100% certain yet.  Also, things may have changed with the December 2006 update.  I will sum up the results from the thread here though.  Breeding has not been shown to have any effect as a cure.  Resting your chocobo may cure the condition, but it could also be random chance.  If you cannot afford a Celerity Salad, it is worth a shot to have it rest.  I have not read any case where Celerity Salads have not been effective.

Caught a Cold
If your chocobo has caught a cold the VCS trainer will recommend you bring him/her some tokopekko wildgrass. If ignored, the cold may become a high fever.

Has Injury
If your chocobo has an injury, the VCS Trainer will tell you your chocobo has become injured. It will lay down in its stall and will look very unhappy. Typically a chocobo becomes injured when participating in care activities that produce physical strain such as Carrying Packages, Delivering Messages, and Exercising in a Group (in order of most likely to get injuries to least likely). The remedy is to feed it Gausebit Wildgrass as prompted by the VCS Trainer. By the next real-time day the wound should be healed, but on rare occasions the wound may take 2 days to heal requiring another treatment with the Gausebit Wildgrass. In this case, the wound will be healed by the third day.

Chocobo Abilities
"Teach an Old Chocobo New Tricks!"

Each chocobo can learn 2 out of 6 abilities (or attributes as they are called in the game). They can be obtained by choosing an option Tell a Story to a chocobo or by picking the appropriate honeymoon plan in Upper Jueno which causes an egg to inherit the abilities of a specific parent. The abilities are:


 * Gallop (Story of an Impatient Chocobo) - Increases chocobo's running speed.
 * Canter (Story of a Curious Chocobo) - Increases a chocobo's endurance.
 * Burrow (Story of a Worrysome Chocobo) - Adds a few different items to Chocobo Digging.
 * Bore (Story of a Youthful Chocobo) - Allows your chocobo to find less common items while Chocobo Digging.
 * Auto-Regen (Story of a Happy Chocobo ) - Increases the rate at which your chocobo restores energy.
 * Treasure Finder (Story of a Diligent Chocobo?) - This ability will increase a chocobo's ability to locate treasure when playing the Chocobo Hot and Cold Game. * Dec 19th FFXI Update

Your chocobo needs at least average Discernment to learn an ability. Choosing Tell a Story before the chocobo has average Discernment has no effect. (If you concentrate on raising Discernment from a hatchling, it will take you to approximately Day 30 before you hit Average.)

When an ability is learned, the corresponding story key item disappears, a light-bulb animatation goes off above your chocobo's head, and the chocobo health bar is restored by 20-50%. After 2 stories have been learned, your chocobo can still "learn" more stories which will disappear, but it will not actually learn the corresponding abilities anymore as the limit is only 2.

Misc Info
The following information is mostly already available in the ol' Chocobo Raising page and do not actually provide any guidelines about the care, feed and daily rituals needed to raise chocobos.

What you will Need to Raise your Chocobo
These are the things that will be required over the month of your chocobo raising. All of the items can be purchased from the Auction House in your city.
 * 29 days in which to check on your chocobo.
 * Between 8-12 stacks of Chocobo Feed
 * If your chocobo gets sick, two of the Medicinal Feed is recommended
 * Possibly a Chocolixir or two for when your chocobo becomes an adult.
 * A lot of patience

Chocobo Stages
These are the stages that your chocobo will go through to reach maturity. As appears so far, most cutscenes and personality differences are random in occurrence. Do not be upset if your chocobo does not develop a personality until late in its development.

Egg

 * After obtaining a chocobo egg, head to one of the starting cities' chocobo stables and trade the egg to the Vana'diel Chocobo Society trainer located inside. From there, you can watch your chocobo grow!
 * The only care plan option is Basic Care
 * Your only care option is Watch over the Chocobo
 * The egg cycle is 4 real life days. (96 Earth hours)
 * Each day, exactly 24 earth hours after the last, you will recieve a cutscene in which the VCS Trainer will update you on your chocobo's condition. If you miss a day, any missed cutscenes will be given the next time you talk to the VCS Trainer.
 * On day 4 your egg will hatch into a young chocobo.

Chick

 * The care plan now includes Basic Care, Rest, Take a Walk in Town, Listen to Music
 * You may name your chocobo by combining two of the Chocobo Names up to 15 characters.
 * You may now Feed your chocobo. To Feed your chocobo, trade the chocobo food or medication to the VCS Trainer.
 * Your care options are Watch over the Chocobo and Go on a Walk (short).
 * During this phase of its life, your chocobo may develop many Personalities. Some will last for only a day, others will remain for longer periods of time. The effects of the Personalities is unknown at this time.
 * You may receive a second cutscene in which the VCS Trainer states, "Your chocobo seems pretty perky today. It should respond to anything you give it". The current belief on this is that it is the day on which to feed your chocobo a worm.
 * The chick cycle is 2 weeks Earth time.
 * For the first 2 days, the VCS Trainer will give you regular updates on your chocobo, mentioning what care plan it was on. In this phase you may begin to get a second cutscene in which your chocobo may be ill. If this occurs just follow the instructions given by the VCS Trainer.
 * Day 7: After another 24 hours, talk to the NPC again for a cutscene showing your chick.
 * You will get a cutscene in which the NPC will mention that your chocobo has been crying at night. You will receive a key item called a White Handkerchief. Wait until the after midnight of the next Vana'diel day, then zone and come back. You will now be able to use the handkerchief with your scent on it and it the Chocobo Trainer will take it back from you. It is rumored that if you are too late, the chocobo trainer will use his own item to make the chick get better and your handkerchief will just simply be taken.
 * From day 8-19: You will get regular updates, sometimes getting an ill cutscene and sometimes getting the perky cutscene. On day 19 your chocobo will grow into a Adolescent Chocobo.

Adolescent

 * The care plan options now include Exercise Alone, Exercise in a Group, Play with Children, Play with Other Chocobos, Carry Packages and Exhibit to the Public.
 * Personal care options now include Tell a Story, Scold the Chocobo and Go on a Walk (regular)
 * After your first regular walk, you will meet three other trainers who challenge you to a competition. This opens the Personal care option, Compete against Others.
 * Your chocobo may now become bored. Use the new Compete against Others to race and remedy its boredom (like other conditions, your chocobo's mood will not update until the next day).
 * The color tips of your chocobo indicate that your chocobo has a small chance of being that color when full grown. Don't expect it as the occurrence rate seems low.
 * The Adolescent cycle is 10 earth days.
 * For the next 10 days you will get regular Chocobo update cutscenes, occasionaly getting ill or bored cutscenes. On day 29 your chocobo will become an adult.

Adult

 * You receive the care plans Deliver Messages, Dig for Treasure and Act in a Play
 * You receive the personal care option long walk.
 * Your Chocobo is now rideable. Complete the mini quest Obtaining your Chocobo Whistle to obtain your Chocobo Whistle.
 * After obtaining your Chocobo Whistle, you must register your chocobo in your city.


 * You may now retire your chocobo. Doing so will allow you to begin raising a new chocobo.
 * You can continue to improve the stats of your chocobo. (On day 129, your chocobo will "auto retire"; at this time its stats are permanent and you may begin to raise another chocobo.)
 * You can now get a Chococard. This is used for breeding with another chocobo in Jeuno. More information is pending.
 * The stop chocobo raising option is removed at this time.
 * Your chocobo will auto-retire on day 129.
 * Until your chocobo retires, you are able to continue to improve its stats. You will be updated daily on your chocobo's status, as well, all cutscenes from the young chocobo phase will still occur in this phase.
 * On or around day 43, you may recieve a message "Your chocobo is in the prime of its life." It was once "Your chocobo's attributes are at its peak" even though its stats could and would still increase after this point. It is assumed that this was a mis-translation that has been corrected.
 * On or around day 43, you may recieve a message "You have done a magnificent job raising this chocobo. Now is the best time to improve its attributes.  I must say, is beginning to develop quite a distinguished air. You may or maynot have both abilities by this day.


 * On or around day 63, you may recieve a message saying something about how distinguished your chocobo looks. It is believed that these messages are used to allow the chocobo raiser to estimate the time remaining to auto-retirement.

Note: Your chocobo's stats can still increase even after you get the above messeges. Another note: At no point is it nescessary to retire your chocobo in order to ride it, breed it or anything else. Retire it only if you wish to begin raising a new chocobo.

Vana'diel Chocobo Society farms

 * At day 129 your chocobo will have to retire to the farms for the rest of its life.

Chocobo Attributes
Each chocobo has 6 main attributes: Both strength and endurance are collectively referred to as "Physical attributes". Both discernment and receptivity are collectively referred to as "Mental attributes".
 * Strength - is a term used to describe the chocobo's leg power. The more strength a chocobo has, the faster it will be able to run. Rental chocobos have been raised with an emphasis on this attribute.
 * Endurance - is a term used to describe the chocobo's stamina. If your chocobo has high endurance, you will be able to ride it for a long period of time.
 * Discernment - is a must for anyone who wants their chocobo to learn new abilities. You may want to consider raising this attribute if you are interested in digging for treasure.
 * Receptivity - is a term used to describe the chocobo's sensitivity when dealing with others. You can foster receptivity in your chocobo by giving it lots of opportunities to communicate with other chocobos.
 * Energy - is a term used to describe the amount of power the chocobo needs to stay active for the day. If your chocobo has a lot of energy, care plans are more likely to be successful and you can provide more direct care for your chocobo. You can restore your chocobo's energy by feeding it, so remember not to skip out on feeding time after a demanding schedule!
 * Affection - is the most important attribute of all. Your care schedule will fall flat if you don't show your chocobo proper affection! You can raise your chocobo's affection by feeding it greens and caring for it on a regular basis. Affection is split into several levels:
 * level 1 - not care about you at all
 * level 2 - be able to endure your company
 * level 3 - slightly enjoy your company
 * level 4 - like being around you
 * level 5 - like you pretty well
 * level 6 - like you a lot
 * level 7 - want to be with you all the time
 * level 8 - regard you as its parent


 * Each attribute has several levels:
 * level 1 - Poor
 * level 2 - Substandard
 * level 3 - A bit deficient
 * level 4 - Average
 * level 5 - Better than average
 * level 6 - Impressive
 * level 7 - Outstanding
 * level 8 - First-class