Bill's ranch is a location in the Final Fantasy VII series. It first appeared as the chocobo farm in Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-, and was mentioned in Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-. Later, the farm appears as Bill's ranch in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
The ranch is located in the grasslands. It is operated by Chocobo Bill and his family of chocobo breeders, including himself, Choco Billy, and Chloe. The family raise chocobos at the farm which are using in chocobo racing and other domestic activities.
History[]
Before Final Fantasy VII[]
During Crisis Core, Zack Fair visited the ranch for a number of missions.
Original continuity[]
In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife and the party visited the chocobo farm during "Going After Sephiroth". In need of a way to reach the mythril mines, the group turned to the farm to ride a chocobo to get past the dangerous Midgar Zolom. After buying a Chocobo Lure Materia from Choco Billy, they caught one to cross the marsh more easily.
Cloud and the party later returned to catch and breed chocobos. This allowed them to breed more powerful chocobos and reach some impassable parts of the world, and to compete in chocobo races in the Chocobo Square.
During Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-, a crew member on the Shera kept a river chocobo at the farm, having named it "Boco".
Remake continuity[]
In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, during chapter 2, "A New Journey Begins", Cloud Strife's group saw warning signs directing them to Bill's ranch when finding an abandoned dock near the marshes. The signs directed them back to Bill's ranch, where they met Billy and Chloe. Billy and Chloe were unable to rent out any chocobos to them, but directed them to find a chocobo named Piko. Chadley also reintroduced himself to the party at the ranch.
Geography[]
Bill's ranch is located in the grasslands, found in the northeast area of the planet's eastern continent. It is situated in the middle of grassland with an abundance of chocobos roaming the land nearby. The farm itself is relatively small, with a single ranch and an outside pen.
Gameplay[]
Final Fantasy VII[]
Chocobo Farm in Final Fantasy VII.
The Chocobo Farm can be visited on the world map after leaving Midgar, but does not become important until the chapter "Going After Sephiroth". Here, the player must visit the Chocobo Farm to purchase the Chocobo Lure Materia from Choco Billy for 2,000 gil and catch a wild Chocobo, in order to ride a Chocobo to evade the Midgar Zolom and reach Mythril Mine. Though it is possible to defeat Midgar Zolom instead, doing so is extremely unlikely at this point in the game.
Racing Chocobos are later bred here after the events of "That Which Waits in the Northernmost Reaches" when Meteor is summoned, with Choco Billy looking after them in the stables. Breeding allows the player to have access to better Chocobos that can reach impassable parts of the map and reach the Materia Caves around the map. The Summon Materia Choco/Mog can also be obtained here. Finally, Chloe, Choco Billy's sister, assists Cloud by keeping notes of what the Chocobo Sage divulges.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-[]
The Chocobo Farm appears as a location in several missions. It serves no storyline purpose.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth[]
Bill's Ranch is found in the grasslands region, and is located south overall on the region. Unlike Final Fantasy VII, in which the ranch was the only chocobo farm available, Bill's ranch instead is one of many chocobo ranches, as each region on the world has its own ranch. Bill's ranch is the only one that is required to visit in the story.
Chocobo ranches serve as a means of fast travel, a convenient place to use benches to rest, buy items from vending machines, upgrade folios, and to contact Chadley. Bill's ranch is the only one that is part of main scenario quests. Outside Bill's ranch is the minigame Hustle de Chocobo.
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis[]
The Chocobo Farm serves as the hub for Chocobo Expeditions. Bill, Billy, and Chloe operate shops and exchanges, and some of the player's owned chocobos appear in a pen. During certain Events, especially crossovers, additional characters will appear or special chocobos can be earned. Some Events also have scenes taking place at the Chocobo Farm, such as A Tea Party & Festive Eggs.
Musical themes[]
The background music that plays in the Chocobo Farm in Final Fantasy VII is "Farm Boy" (牧場の少年, Bokujō no Shōnen?), a track unique to the Chocobo Farm.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]

Etymology[]
(チョコボール, Chokobōru?). The mascot for this product is Kyoro-chan (キョロちゃん?), a bird who says "kweh".
The name "chocobo" derives from a Japanese brand of chocolate malt ball by Morinaga, ChocoBall食う / くう / kuu is a rough way to say "eat", whose volitional casual form is 食え / くえ / kue ("let's scoff 'em down!"), leading to Kweh!