So my main character, C'elah, is an aspiring chocobo breeder, having grown up in Thalanan and gotten herself a pair of racer stock birds. I'm trying to imagine what the aging/breeding/raising process involves, as well as the time span for each. I've started up my research on it and wanted some input on it before getting too much head canon going.
Obviously one needs (at minimum) two mature adult birds, a male and a female, in order to breed. I was considering a mix of aspects to the process and time span. I imagine they are not constantly laying eggs, like chickens do, but perhaps have a sort of seasonal cycle kinda deal, where the hens are more fertile and will accept male advances as well as be able to actually have a viable egg.
I'm considering in part that, in-game, your racers have only 10 breeding chances, in that you own all their breeding rights, and will keep them their entire lives, so to speak. As well as that it takes a certain amount of exp to get them to breeding fitness.
Perhaps they have mating displays or such like several bird species, or just their aging happens to coincide with the time it takes to determine their racer ability, etc. Just conjecture at this point for me.
I think a hen will lay and tend to only one egg at a time, and from what I could tell, the eggs are decently large compared to the parent size. The hen likely takes on the main role of tending her egg, perhaps the male has a small flock of mates, or just the one, I'm not sure at this point, though with humanoid intervention, the hens and cockerels likely either aren't kept together or are used to how they're handled, etc.
So far I've figured a cockerel will defend and stick close with hens if allowed, but is fine on his own if not, while hens tend to group up unless they have an egg, then they keep a little more to themselves and get broody.
Time-wise, I think a month or so (moon) is about right for hatching time for birds this size, then the chick likely grows rapidly, and is fit for racing/riding within a season or two, depending on size and rider, etc.
This could change as needed, since if a hen lays an egg a season, she wants to either have her previous chick be gone or at least independent enough to not be draining her energy while she's sitting on another egg.
Heck they could perhaps have a system where an older chick sits the egg while the mother goes and gathers food, and this lets them (esp young hens) learn how to tend to their own young.
Since they're a flight species (as in running off, not flying) I imagine the chick is up and running within the day, if not within hours of hatching. Though again, humanoid intervention may have slowed the process, since they feel safe around their people and may not encourage their chicks up and about as quickly as a wild hen would.
I'll expand on this more later, it's 1am for me at the moment and I should be getting to bed x'D but I just needed to get this out first. Thanks to anyone who helps out/suggests sources/finds info/generally encourages my research!Â
ADDED 3/16
Eggs hatch after approx 20-25 days [sub](lore refers to fortnight -14 days- of waiting for the egg to hatch, may not have been freshly laid, and wasn't a chocobo egg either)
[/sub]Since racing a bird from 1 to 40 (retiring age) takes approx 35 races, and I imagine they do one or two races a week, realistically, it would take about 18 weeks (over 4 months) to mature from the youngest able to be ridden, likely at 6-8 weeks after hatching.
This places a mature, breedable adult bird at about 6 months old, lending some believably to them having approximately seasonal fertility cycles. Bi-seasonal would be less likely from the need to keep their numbers up, such as if a breeding didn't take last season or a chick was lost.
Taking clues off horses, and some comments from lore, I imagine chocobos stay in small herds/flocks of about 5-10, to include any hens with chicks. Perhaps just one or two breeding cockerels with the group, with lone chocobos likely being bachelor cockerels. Lone females are perhaps rarer, unless they're brooding ones that are nesting, which are spoken as being off-limits to being hunted in lore.
I imagine, with their amicable natures, the offspring generally stay with the mothers until they're breeding age (in the case of males, who likely get run off by the breeding cockerel/s), and either join a different flock/herd or stay with their birth flock/herd to raise their own young.
The lore refers to geldings as being what was originally the only 'released' chocobos to prevent non Ishgardian breedings, but I know that the birds are now easier to obtain, but likely still that females are more expensive.
I imagine that racing chocobos are a different overall build than draft/company/riding chocobo, since they are bred for racing, not burdenwork. Rather like the difference between a thoroughbred, a draft horse, and a general carthorse. They -can- do some of the work, but aren't as good at it as one bred for it, nor is a common chocobo likely to be as good at racing as the racer types.
For coloration, I believe it's a simple answer of Desert Yellow being dominant to other colors, whereas all other colors are co-dominant to one another. Likely all DY birds carry recessive colors, hence why they often have different-colored offspring, but DY is most common due to being dominant. Since you can't recolor racer birds in-game, I imagine the feeding system is likely aesthetic only, in that if you bred a naturally DY bird to another DY bird, the offspring would be DY, not the color the parent was 'fed' into.
ok thats enough for the moment xD
ADDED 3/22
Taking into account that the breeding number is 10, and we can assume an active breeder gets in as many covers as possible, a chocobo only has a span of 2 years 6 months of breeding potential, putting them past prime at about 3 or 4 years. However, ignoring the breeding limit as purely an ingame mechanic... there is the possibility that, like horses, chocobos have long working lifespans, which is likely why they are so valuable.
IRL, ostriches weigh around 200 lbs on average (~140-320) and live to about the age of 40, after taking 2-4 years to reach sexual maturity. This ratios a chocobo to about 10 years, longer with good care, and likely are heavier due to being bulkier in overall build when compared to an ostrich, likely putting them around 300lbs on average.
When considering the different sizes of chocobo (lalafell to roe mounts) they are likely interbreedable and are just a product of selective breeding. I do imagine not all small chocobo are as super small as those in game (by comparison), and that the roe-size mounts are as large as a chocobo will get, and likely are considered draft breeds.
I figure likely for a chocobo to fly, they have some sort of wind aspect to lighten their bodies, unless it's been decided that "in character" a chocobo doesn't fly, but perhaps jumps very well and can glide using a degree of wind aspect.
I forget what else I was going to bring up this time now. XD
ADDED 3/28
Diet, thats what I was gonna get into last time and forgot.
Now we know chochobos love them some gysahl greens, and also enjoy chysal greens and Yafaem wildgrass, as well as a variety of fruit. There's worms in their feed blends, too, so we can speculate they are insectivores as well, or at least opportunistic ones. So they're fully omnivores, and may also enjoy or get a taste for meats, eggs, fish, etc... depending on where they are raised and what foods they are introduced to. So we can safely assume the bulk of their diet (60% or more) is vegetation, with added insects as opportunity arises. With some speculation, we can also guess they can have their diet adjusted as needed, perhaps slowly, such as if somewhere has a surplus of fish, it is dried and ground into their feed gradually until a bulk of their meal is actually unusual for them. This can also lead to thoughts of what exactly the health benefits/problems may arise, such as vitamin and mineral deficiency or overabundance in their system.
Assuming chocobos have a crop like other birds, they may also require grit or stones in their diet to maintain their digestion. Especially this asks if they perhaps would want things with more calcium to them, such as ground up eggshells or bones, and would seek these out if they were lacking on their own.
Obviously one needs (at minimum) two mature adult birds, a male and a female, in order to breed. I was considering a mix of aspects to the process and time span. I imagine they are not constantly laying eggs, like chickens do, but perhaps have a sort of seasonal cycle kinda deal, where the hens are more fertile and will accept male advances as well as be able to actually have a viable egg.
I'm considering in part that, in-game, your racers have only 10 breeding chances, in that you own all their breeding rights, and will keep them their entire lives, so to speak. As well as that it takes a certain amount of exp to get them to breeding fitness.
Perhaps they have mating displays or such like several bird species, or just their aging happens to coincide with the time it takes to determine their racer ability, etc. Just conjecture at this point for me.
I think a hen will lay and tend to only one egg at a time, and from what I could tell, the eggs are decently large compared to the parent size. The hen likely takes on the main role of tending her egg, perhaps the male has a small flock of mates, or just the one, I'm not sure at this point, though with humanoid intervention, the hens and cockerels likely either aren't kept together or are used to how they're handled, etc.
So far I've figured a cockerel will defend and stick close with hens if allowed, but is fine on his own if not, while hens tend to group up unless they have an egg, then they keep a little more to themselves and get broody.
Time-wise, I think a month or so (moon) is about right for hatching time for birds this size, then the chick likely grows rapidly, and is fit for racing/riding within a season or two, depending on size and rider, etc.
This could change as needed, since if a hen lays an egg a season, she wants to either have her previous chick be gone or at least independent enough to not be draining her energy while she's sitting on another egg.
Heck they could perhaps have a system where an older chick sits the egg while the mother goes and gathers food, and this lets them (esp young hens) learn how to tend to their own young.
Since they're a flight species (as in running off, not flying) I imagine the chick is up and running within the day, if not within hours of hatching. Though again, humanoid intervention may have slowed the process, since they feel safe around their people and may not encourage their chicks up and about as quickly as a wild hen would.
I'll expand on this more later, it's 1am for me at the moment and I should be getting to bed x'D but I just needed to get this out first. Thanks to anyone who helps out/suggests sources/finds info/generally encourages my research!Â
ADDED 3/16
Eggs hatch after approx 20-25 days [sub](lore refers to fortnight -14 days- of waiting for the egg to hatch, may not have been freshly laid, and wasn't a chocobo egg either)
[/sub]Since racing a bird from 1 to 40 (retiring age) takes approx 35 races, and I imagine they do one or two races a week, realistically, it would take about 18 weeks (over 4 months) to mature from the youngest able to be ridden, likely at 6-8 weeks after hatching.
This places a mature, breedable adult bird at about 6 months old, lending some believably to them having approximately seasonal fertility cycles. Bi-seasonal would be less likely from the need to keep their numbers up, such as if a breeding didn't take last season or a chick was lost.
Taking clues off horses, and some comments from lore, I imagine chocobos stay in small herds/flocks of about 5-10, to include any hens with chicks. Perhaps just one or two breeding cockerels with the group, with lone chocobos likely being bachelor cockerels. Lone females are perhaps rarer, unless they're brooding ones that are nesting, which are spoken as being off-limits to being hunted in lore.
I imagine, with their amicable natures, the offspring generally stay with the mothers until they're breeding age (in the case of males, who likely get run off by the breeding cockerel/s), and either join a different flock/herd or stay with their birth flock/herd to raise their own young.
The lore refers to geldings as being what was originally the only 'released' chocobos to prevent non Ishgardian breedings, but I know that the birds are now easier to obtain, but likely still that females are more expensive.
I imagine that racing chocobos are a different overall build than draft/company/riding chocobo, since they are bred for racing, not burdenwork. Rather like the difference between a thoroughbred, a draft horse, and a general carthorse. They -can- do some of the work, but aren't as good at it as one bred for it, nor is a common chocobo likely to be as good at racing as the racer types.
For coloration, I believe it's a simple answer of Desert Yellow being dominant to other colors, whereas all other colors are co-dominant to one another. Likely all DY birds carry recessive colors, hence why they often have different-colored offspring, but DY is most common due to being dominant. Since you can't recolor racer birds in-game, I imagine the feeding system is likely aesthetic only, in that if you bred a naturally DY bird to another DY bird, the offspring would be DY, not the color the parent was 'fed' into.
ok thats enough for the moment xD
ADDED 3/22
Taking into account that the breeding number is 10, and we can assume an active breeder gets in as many covers as possible, a chocobo only has a span of 2 years 6 months of breeding potential, putting them past prime at about 3 or 4 years. However, ignoring the breeding limit as purely an ingame mechanic... there is the possibility that, like horses, chocobos have long working lifespans, which is likely why they are so valuable.
IRL, ostriches weigh around 200 lbs on average (~140-320) and live to about the age of 40, after taking 2-4 years to reach sexual maturity. This ratios a chocobo to about 10 years, longer with good care, and likely are heavier due to being bulkier in overall build when compared to an ostrich, likely putting them around 300lbs on average.
When considering the different sizes of chocobo (lalafell to roe mounts) they are likely interbreedable and are just a product of selective breeding. I do imagine not all small chocobo are as super small as those in game (by comparison), and that the roe-size mounts are as large as a chocobo will get, and likely are considered draft breeds.
I figure likely for a chocobo to fly, they have some sort of wind aspect to lighten their bodies, unless it's been decided that "in character" a chocobo doesn't fly, but perhaps jumps very well and can glide using a degree of wind aspect.
I forget what else I was going to bring up this time now. XD
ADDED 3/28
Diet, thats what I was gonna get into last time and forgot.
Now we know chochobos love them some gysahl greens, and also enjoy chysal greens and Yafaem wildgrass, as well as a variety of fruit. There's worms in their feed blends, too, so we can speculate they are insectivores as well, or at least opportunistic ones. So they're fully omnivores, and may also enjoy or get a taste for meats, eggs, fish, etc... depending on where they are raised and what foods they are introduced to. So we can safely assume the bulk of their diet (60% or more) is vegetation, with added insects as opportunity arises. With some speculation, we can also guess they can have their diet adjusted as needed, perhaps slowly, such as if somewhere has a surplus of fish, it is dried and ground into their feed gradually until a bulk of their meal is actually unusual for them. This can also lead to thoughts of what exactly the health benefits/problems may arise, such as vitamin and mineral deficiency or overabundance in their system.
Assuming chocobos have a crop like other birds, they may also require grit or stones in their diet to maintain their digestion. Especially this asks if they perhaps would want things with more calcium to them, such as ground up eggshells or bones, and would seek these out if they were lacking on their own.
~C'elah Jhamei~ . ~Liif Ralain ~ . ~Tiphanae Paremore~ . ~Adana Malaguld~ . ~Reshk'a Tayuun~
~Solsese Solse~ . ~N'ijah Tia~ . ~Thracen Mare~ . ~V'lyhhia Deyna~
~Solsese Solse~ . ~N'ijah Tia~ . ~Thracen Mare~ . ~V'lyhhia Deyna~
