Harvest Moon ParadiseAnimals play an integral role in Harvest Moon, both in terms of the money you can generate and your overall happiness. There is an extreme amount of misinformation regarding livestock in the various FAQs and other sources for this game, so hopefully this section will clear that up. This section gives details on the grass requirements for livestock, detailed information about chickens and cows, and an overview of the other animals in the game.
GRASS REQUIREMENTS FOR LIVESTOCK ================================ In order to buy animals from the Livestock Dealer, he demands that you have enough grass to support them. Specifically, you must have 16 squares of grass for each animal, and this grass must be planted before the animal can be purchased. Each bag of grass seed can produce up to 9 squares of grass (3x3 area), so each animal requires just under 2 bags of planted grass. When calculating the required grass, the Livestock Dealer counts chicks and baby cows as well, even though these animals do not yet require any fodder. This is the same number found by adding the chickens and cows total in the inventory book inside your house. o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o
|EXAMPLE | |You want to buy a cow. You currently have 2 chickens and a baby chick on | |the farm. How much grass do you need to have before the Livestock Dealer | |will sell one to you? You need to have enough grass for the existing | |animals (including the chicks) plus enough grass for the new animal. This | |totals four animals. Each animal requires 16 squares of grass, so you need | |64 squares of grass, or roughly 8 bags worth. | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o There are no grass requirements for animals you breed yourself. Keep this in mind during the winter and fall if you want to increase the number of livestock but don't have enough grass to buy from the dealer. Another alternative in that scenario would be to sell off all but one chicken (less profitable and easy to breed) to buy as many cows as possible. Then, after the cows are bought, you can start breeding chickens again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHICKENS ======== Chickens are simple, low maintenance animals. They provide a nice addition to your income without requiring much care or much time. The main downsides to chickens early on is the grass requirement, but that should not discourage you from raising them. STAGES: Chickens begin as eggs, hatch as chicks, and grow into chickens. GROWTH: An incubating egg takes 3 days to hatch into a chick. A chick takes 7 days to grow into an adult. Note that chickens bought from the Livestock Dealer are already adults. FEEDING: Chickens require one piece of fodder per day. To feed them, place the fodder in the trough at the back of the coop. Do NOT throw the fodder at the chickens directly, as this does nothing. You can use chicken feed as a substitute for fodder with no penalty (despite what the livestock dealer says). Eggs and chicks do not require any food. HEALTH: Chickens are very resilient. They never get sick or die from starvation, so you can ignore a chicken for the entire game and it will be just fine. The only threat to a chicken is wild dogs. If you leave a chicken outside and the ranch has broken fence pieces, wild dogs will come at night and eat it. THERE IS NO REASON TO EVER LEAVE CHICKENS OUTSIDE. PRODUCE: Chickens will lay 1 egg each day if they were fed on the previous day. If a feeding was missed on the previous day, chickens will not lay eggs again until they have been fed for 3 consecutive days. Eggs will disappear in one day if not collected. MONEY All eggs sell for 50 G if placed in the produce bin in the bottom left corner. Chickens themselves can be sold for 500 G. BREEDING: To grow your own chickens, simply place an egg in the incubator bin at the bottom right side of the coop. The egg will grow and hatch into a chick on its own in 3 days. STRATEGY There's not much to say about chickens. Feed them every day and collect their eggs. Early in the game, when you are still struggling financially and are starting to buy cows, chickens may be somewhat of a burden as they all require 16 squares of grass (including chicks). Instead of spending a lot on more grass, simply sell off all but one of the adults. If you are running out of fodder during the winter, stop feeding chickens and save the fodder for cows. The only downside is that the chicken will stop laying eggs until fed again for 3 days straight, but this is far cheaper than the problems associated with cows. If you are breeding chickens to sell for money, you may want to place the chicks in your house. This way, you will know when they are fully grown and can save the trip to the coop. It also clears up the coop a bit and prevents the extra birds from getting in your way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COWS ==== Unlike chickens, cows require a major investment of time and energy. However, the reward is worth it. A full barn of cows producing large milk can generate 4200 G per day, every day of the year. Raising cows is also essential to Jack's happiness and your ending scores. STAGES: Cows have a fairly prolonged life cycle. The physical stages they can appear in are the following: baby, child, adult, and pregnant. See the Summary table below for more specifics on each stage. GROWTH Baby cows grow to child cows in 14 days. Children grow to adults in 21 days. When you buy a cow from the livestock dealer, it is in the child stage. AFFECTION Cows are sensitive creatures and have a hidden score that gauges their feelings for you called the Affection Score. The cow's affection score is what determines the type of milk it produces. Unfortunately, there is no way to see the cow's score during the game. The maximum affection score is 255. The actions that change affection score are the following: Action Effect ------ ------ Talk to cow +1 (once per day) Brush cow +3 (once per day) Cow becomes pregnant +10 Feed Cow 0 Use Medicine on cow 0 Cow gives birth 0 Cow misses feeding -8 (cow may become sick) Cow is left in the rain/snow -8 (cow may become sick) Cow becomes sick -20 Cow becomes cranky -30 FEEDING Cows require one piece of fodder per day. The fodder must be placed in the feeding bin directly in front of the stall where the cow appears when you enter. Cows will not eat food out of other bins, and this will count as a missed feeding. Also, do not throw fodder at the cow directly, as this does nothing. If you leave cows outside, they will eat the grass and not require additional feeding from you in all seasons except winter. Note that you do NOT need to feed baby or child cows. They cannot get sick and there is no penalty to affection score from a missed feeding. Pregnant cows must still be fed. While they cannot get sick, their affection score will still decrease each day they are not fed. HEALTH Cows are highly susceptible to illness and mood swings. The two adverse states the cow can enter are "Sick" and "Cranky." SICK Cows become sick from either missed feedings (in the barn) or being left outside in rain or snow. The cow will not always get sick from these things, but the chances are about 50% that it will. Note that no more than four cows can get sick in any given day. A sick cow's face turn grey and the animal becomes sluggish. You will also receive a message when speaking to the cow that it is sick. While sick, cows do not produce milk. You can cure sickness by using the medicine purchased at the livestock dealer. If not cured, cows will die 6 days after becoming sick (do NOT let this happen, as it is very expensive and destroys your happiness score). Note that only adult cows can become sick. Babies, children, and pregnant cows are immune. CRANKY Cows can also become cranky under certain situations. A cranky cow will have slanted eyes and appear generally angry and unresponsive. Cranky cows do not produce milk. One way cows become cranky is if you beat the animal with a tool. The game stores the total number of times you hit each individual cow over the course of the game. Once you have hit the cow 10 times, it will become cranky the next day. This can occur repeatedly, so do not intentionally harm the cows. The other way cows become cranky is when left outside with broken fence pieces on the ranch. Crankiness will typically wear off after 2 days, but you can remove the condition immediately by using the medicine. Note that if you leave cows outside in poor conditions and do not improve them, the crankiness state will keep resetting each day. This means you lose 30 affection points and prolong the period that the cow will be unhappy. PRODUCE Adult cows will produce one unit of milk each day. The specific size of the milk depends on the cow's affection score. Cows will not produce milk if sick or cranky. You must purchase the milker from the tool shop to milk cows. Note that cows still produce milk when left outside. Type of Milk Affection Score ------------ --------------- Small 0-95 Medium 96-191 Large 191-255 MONEY Different size milk and the cows that produce them sell for different amounts of money. Milk Money ---- ----- Small 150 G Medium 250 G Large 350 G Sell Cow Money -------- ----- Produces small milk 5000 G Produces medium milk 8000 G Produces large milk 10,000 G BREEDING To breed cows, you need to buy the Miracle Potion from the livestock dealer for 4000 G. Use the potion on the cow and it will become pregnant the next day. Unlike subsequent games, cows can still become pregnant after they have been milked for the day. Pregnant cows balloon up and are moved to the special stall in the bottom right. Use the bin by that special stall when feeding them. Cows take 21 days to give birth after becoming pregnant, and you can see the number of days remaining by talking to the cow. After being born, a baby cow will be placed in a free stall (you will need to name it) and the pregnant cow returns to normal. If you use the Medicine on a pregnant cow, it will reduce the pregnancy time to zero and the cow will give birth the next day. This is a bug, but it is useful to save time. The Miracle Potion will also cure a cow of sickness or crankiness when used (in addition to making the cow pregnant). This is also a bug, but it makes breeding cows more cost effective. You cannot impregnate a cow when you already have 12 cows in the barn. Using the Miracle Potion on a cow in this case will just waste the item. SUMMARY The table below summarizes much of the confusion from above with regards to the cows' conditions and requirements. o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o | Type of | Need to | Type of | Can Get | Can Get | | | Cow | Feed? | Milk | Sick? | Cranky ? | Notes | o------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------o | Baby | No | None | No | No | Born from pregnant | | | | | | | cow. Grows to child | | | | | | | in 14 days. | |------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------| | Child | No | None | No | No | Type of cow bought | | | | | | | from livestock | | | | | | | dealer. Grows to | | | | | | | adult in 21 days. | |------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------| | Adult 1 | Yes | Small | Yes | Yes | Have an affection | | | | | | | score of 0-95 | |------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------| | Adult 2 | Yes | Medium | Yes | Yes | Have an affection | | | | | | | score of 96-191 | |------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------| | Adult 3 | Yes | Large | Yes | Yes | Have an affection | | | | | | | score of 192-255 | |------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------------------| | Pregnant | Yes | None | No | No | Use Miracle Potion | | | | | | | on adult cow. Gives | | | | | | | birth after 21 days. | o----------------------------------------------------------------------------o Note: All 3 adult cows appear the same. There are may tips and strategies that will help you more effectively raise cows. Keep the following in mind: DO NOT LEAVE COWS OUTSIDE If you remember only one tip you read, remember this one. Do not leave cows outside! Unlike in later Harvest Moon games, there are no benefits to the cows happiness or affection from being outside. However, there are significant downsides. The cows risk both sickness and crankiness from being left outside, especially if it rains or snows. Cows are also much harder to milk since they move around, and milking them outdoors wastes valuable day time. Time stands still inside the barn and has a convenient shipping bin in the corner, so that is a much better place to do it. DO NOT FEED CHILDREN AND BABIES Only adults and pregnant cows need to be fed. Children and babies can never get sick, and their affection scores are not lowered by a lack of food. Conserve your time and fodder and don't feed them DON'T BREED COWS, BUY THEM Unless you just want to see what happens, do not waste time breeding cows. When you factor in the pregnancy time and additional time as a baby, breeding adds 35 days to the life cycle of the cows. That's 35 fewer days of milk production from the new cow. You also lose milk production from the pregnant cow for 21 days while it's pregnant. The only benefit I have ever seen in favor of pregnancy is that the baby cow will produce large milk when it reaches adulthood. This is true if you talk to and brush it every day, but this is just a function of being able to raise the affection score while the cow is a baby. It does not get you large milk any sooner than it would a purchased cow; it just trades days when the cow is usually producing small and medium milk for no production at all. Overall, you're at least 7000 G worse off economically from breeding, and possibly a lot more depending on the milk type of the pregnant cow. Just spend the extra 1000 G and buy it. BRUSH AND TALK TO COWS EVERY DAY Brushing and talking to cows each day increases their affection score. Bushing adds 3 points and talking to them adds one point. These actions only increase the score once each day, so doing it more frequently is a waste. You can eventually stop brushing and to them (see next point). GET ALL COWS' AFFECTION SCORE OVER 200 Cows begin producing large milk at 192 affection, and there is no practical use for a score higher than that. However, your ranch master score at the end of the game is calculated based on the affection rate of ALL cows (not just the highest score), so you should raise them all to at least 200 to get the most points. To ensure this affection score, you need to brush and talk to cows for two days after they start producing large milk. Of course, if they get sick or cranky, you will need to brush and talk to them again to restore the affection. WATCH THE BODY LANGUAGE As you will often experience, cows will start moving away from you when you begin brushing them. They may also enter a group and make it hard to tell who is who. This is where body language is useful. If you brush or talk to a cow for the first time, it will blink its eyes (semi-circles) and shake its tail. If the cow starts walking away when you brush it but still makes these gestures, the brush counted and increased its affection score. If you try talking to or brushing the cow more than once per day, it will not make these gestures. This should signal that your actions are not improving its affection score. EXIT AND RE-ENTER TO RESET POSITIONS If you have a lot of cows and find them moving around a lot, exit and re-enter the barn. They will reappear in front of their stalls. COW SLOWDOWN Once you have around 9 or more cows, the game will noticeably slowdown inside the barn. There is really nothing you can do about this. Leaving the cows outside causes an even more extreme slow down. MOVE COWS WITH THE BELL When you begin pushing a cow, it will start walking in that direction until it hits something. You can guide them this way, but it is very annoying. If you need to move cows (say, to sell them), use the bell that the livestock dealer gives you. Stand in a straight line from the cow, use the bell, and the cow will walk right to you. To move the cow outside, lure it to the barn entrance with the bell, then push it into the door. Continue using the bell outside to direct it. YOU CAN LEAVE PREGNANT COWS OUTSIDE This is the one real exception to the "no animals outside" rule. Pregnant cows cannot get sick or cranky, so there is no downside to leaving them outdoors. Since they are not producing milk anyway, leaving them outside simply eliminates the need to feed them. You will need to move the cow back inside when it's time to give birth, so keep track of the remaining days and move it inside when it's time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DOG === On the second day of the game, Ellen stops by and gives you her dog, Koro (you may rename the dog if you would like). The dog will then remain with you for the duration of the game and generally stays in whatever area you leave it. You do not need to feed Koro or put any other effort into taking care of him. Unlike the cows, he does not have an affection score. There is a lot of incorrect information about Koro's purpose, both within the game and from external sources. For the most part, Koro has no use. To dispel some of the rumors, Koro does not bark or chase away wild dogs at night, he does not increase your happiness, and he does not scare away moles. You also do not need to take him in when it rains, despite what your wife may suggest. Koro has been reported to cause some glitches when left in a barn or coop with a lot of livestock, so you should avoid placing him there. During the game, it does not matter where you leave Koro, so just put him someplace out of the way. You can even bring him back to Ellen's house or leave him on the mountain and it won't make a difference. To move Koro quickly, press the L button and he will run after you. This is a lot faster than picking him up. With all that being said, there is one rumor regarding the dog that is true. You do need to hug your dog 100 times to receive the best ending in the game. This is a totally random requirement that is never hinted at during the game, so I am mentioning it here to save you frustration. Hugging your dog just means picking him up once with the A button, so you can actually fulfill this requirement in a few minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HORSE ===== You will find a baby horse (foal) on the first day you enter the crossroads in the winter of year 1. You will be prompted to choose a name. The horse takes refuge in the stall attached to the barn and does not need any feeding or other care. After 21 days, the foal will grow to an adult. When this happens, the tool shop owner will stop by and give you saddle bags. These allow the horse to carry crops and other saleable goods, transforming it into a moveable shipping bin. You can also ride the horse by standing next to it and pressing the A button. The horse runs very quickly and is a great way to travel across the ranch. You can even jump over fences with the horse by pressing the B button. Other than as a harvesting and transportation aid, the horse has no real purpose. It does not have an affection score, so you do not need to worry about its treatment. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER ANIMALS ============= The game features cameos from several other types of creatures. Many of these sightings increase Jack's happiness, but almost none of them have much use beyond that. BIRDS When you leave the house in the morning, you may see a small group of birds in the shipping area that quickly fly off. These birds appear randomly and can show up in any season. They increase your happiness by 2. WILD DOGS Though never seen, wild dogs may enter your ranch at night if you have any broken fence pieces. You will hear them barking after you go to sleep. These dogs will eat your chickens if they are left outside. Keep your fence repaired at all times to ward off these pests. MOLE When plowing land on the farm, you may unearth a mole. Moles can be picked up and carried around, but will quickly burrow back into the ground when dropped. Moles have no real significance in the game. They do not adversely affect crops, and, despite guides that claim otherwise, they do not bother the livestock or your dog. They do have one "interesting" use if brought to the Harvest Festival – they will be cooked in the stew and eaten by Jack! Other than this, they play no role. FISH Fish can be caught in the small pond on the mountain by borrowing the fisherman's rod. Catching a fish will raise your happiness by 2. You can then do whatever you want with the fish (eat it, sell it, give it away, throw it back). FROGS When cutting grass, you will occasionally see something jump/drift away. It may be hard to tell, but this is a frog. Seeing a frog will increase your happiness by 2. P-CHAN This is Ellen's blue bird that she keeps caged in the back of the restaurant. P-Chan is involved in a special scene with Ellen, but he has no direct role otherwise. SQUIRREL In the spring, you can see squirrels in the southeast corner of the mountain, near the tree just below the carpenter's house. Regardless of how hard you try, you can never catch a squirrel. Seeing this creature boosts your happiness by 10, and you can spot one on each day that it is not raining. BUTTERFLIES Butterflies will appear on the mountain in the spring. They are purely decorative. MONKEY You will occasionally see a monkey in the hot springs on the mountain in the spring. He is added for comedic effect and has no other purpose. Ann even jokes about him later in the game. RABBIT In the fall, you can spot a rabbit in the northwest corner of the mountain, right near the area where Nina hangs out on Sundays. Spotting the rabbit increases your happiness by 10. There is also a special scene featuring the rabbit and the hunter that you may experience later in the game. This is discussed in the walkthrough. FOX You can find foxes on the mountain in the winter by walking around near the hot springs. As with the other seasonal animals, fox sightings increase your happiness by 10
