All 4 Empty Bottles in Ocarina of Time: Kakariko Cuccos, Talon's Game, Ruto's Letter, and 10 Big Poes Guide

In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Nintendo Switch 2, just like in the 1998 classic, no piece of gear matches the versatility of Empty Bottles. Whether you are storing bottled Fairies for an automatic revival during a tough boss fight, carrying free Blue Fire out of the Ice Cavern to melt red ice, or delivering a live fish to open Lord Jabu-Jabu's jaws, every extra slot transforms your survival kit. Hyrule holds exactly 4 Empty Bottles: three can be unlocked early on as Child Link, while the fourth requires hunting down ten elusive spirits across Hyrule Field as Adult Link.

If you are aiming for 100% completion alongside the real-time tracking in the companion app activated by the Ocarina of Time Update 1.1.1 patch on Switch 2, here is the complete step-by-step walkthrough to get all four Empty Bottles, including every Kakariko Village Cucco hiding spot and all ten Big Poe spawn locations.

All 4 Empty Bottle Locations in Ocarina of Time at a Glance

Empty Bottle #1: All 7 Kakariko Village Cucco Locations

Your very first Empty Bottle is available as soon as Child Link reaches Kakariko Village during the day. Head to the eastern side of town right at the bottom of the steps leading to the Graveyard. Talk to the red-haired Cucco Lady (Anju) standing next to her fenced pen, and she will ask you to round up her 7 runaway Cuccos.

Keep one crucial rule in mind: you must toss all seven birds into the pen in a single uninterrupted run. Entering any building or stepping outside Kakariko Village will immediately reset the positions of any Cuccos not yet inside the enclosure. Here is where to find all seven:

• Cucco #1 (By the Cucco pen): Wandering right in front of the Cucco Lady near the Graveyard entrance.
• Cucco #2 (Village front gate): Strolling near the main western entrance leading out to Hyrule Field.
• Cucco #3 (Behind the Skulltula House fence): Perched on a crate behind a wooden fence next to the House of Skulltula. Hit it with your Fairy Slingshot or a Deku Nut to make it hop over the barrier so you can pick it up.
• Cucco #4 (Inside the wooden crate near the center tree): The sneakiest bird in town. Look for a small wooden crate facing the stone stairs near the big tree in the center of the village. Perform a forward roll attack into the crate to smash it open and grab the Cucco inside.
• Cucco #5 (Top of the Death Mountain stairs): Walk up the northern stone staircase toward the guard blocking the Death Mountain Trail gate to spot this Cucco.
• Cucco #6 (Behind the Potion Shop in the fenced upper area): Carry a Cucco up to the Windmill platform (or the lookout tower) and glide over the tall wooden fence blocking the northeastern section of town. You will find this sixth Cucco tucked behind the Potion Shop. Throw it over the low fence toward the pen below.
• Cucco #7 (Up the ladder behind the Windmill): While still inside that fenced upper zone behind the Potion Shop, climb the tall ladder mounted against the cliff wall. The seventh and final Cucco is waiting on the upper ledge behind the Windmill.

Once all seven Cuccos are safely inside the pen, speak with the Cucco Lady to claim your first Empty Bottle.

Empty Bottle #2: Talon's Super Cucco Minigame at Lon Lon Ranch

The second bottle can also be earned as Child Link at Lon Lon Ranch. Before this minigame opens up, you must first meet Malon outside Hyrule Castle, hatch the Weird Egg she gives you, and use the Pocket Cucco to wake up her father Talon by the castle moat so he returns home to the ranch.

Enter Lon Lon Ranch and take the first door on your left into Talon's quarters, where dozens of birds are roaming the floor. Pay 10 Rupees to start his challenge: Talon will toss 3 Super Cuccos into the flock, giving you 30 seconds to pick up all three.

Two simple tricks make winning effortless on Nintendo Switch 2:

• Track their landing with the camera: As soon as Talon throws the birds, swing your right stick toward the room to watch exactly where the three Super Cuccos land (they frequently settle behind the table, in the back corner by the crates, or near the center rug).
• Use Navi's lock-on (ZL trigger): Unlike the decoy birds on the floor, only the three genuine Super Cuccos trigger Navi's yellow targeting arrow when you hold down the lock-on button.

Beating the timer rewards you with a bottle of Lon Lon Milk (which restores five hearts twice). Once you drink both servings, the second Empty Bottle is yours to keep forever.

Empty Bottle #3: Ruto's Letter at the Bottom of Lake Hylia

Unlike the first two optional rewards, the third Empty Bottle is mandatory to progress the main story. After clearing Dodongo's Cavern, travel to Zora's Domain and take the tunnel to the left of King Zora's chamber to reach the top of the waterfall. Pay 20 Rupees to play the Diving Game and collect all five underwater Rupees within 50 seconds to earn the Silver Scale, which lets Child Link dive much deeper.

With the Silver Scale equipped, dive to the bottom of the main pool in Zora's Domain and swim through the square underwater shortcut tunnel leading directly to Lake Hylia. As soon as you arrive in Lake Hylia, look down at the lakebed right in front of the submerged portal: a trail of blue Rupees surrounds a sunken bottle. Dive down to pick up the bottle containing Ruto's Letter.

Swim straight back through the tunnel to Zora's Domain, stand in front of King Zora XVI, and present Ruto's Letter using an item button. After reading Princess Ruto's note and slowly scooting aside to open the path toward Lord Jabu-Jabu, King Zora keeps the letter and lets you keep the third Empty Bottle, which you can immediately use to catch a fish in the shallow water for Jabu-Jabu.

Empty Bottle #4: Hunting All 10 Big Poes in Hyrule Field

The fourth and final Empty Bottle can only be obtained as Adult Link, and it is by far the toughest side quest of the set. Inside the ruined guardhouse at the entrance to Hyrule Castle Market Town (the old pot-smashing room from your childhood), a hooded figure now runs the Ghost Shop.

While regular Poe spirits only fetch 10 Rupees, the Poe Collector is after the 10 Big Poes haunting Hyrule Field. Every Big Poe spirit you trap in a bottle and sell to him grants 50 Rupees and adds 100 points to your ghost card. Once your card reaches 1,000 points (all ten unique Big Poes), he hands over the fourth Empty Bottle.

Before starting the hunt, you need two essentials: the Fairy Bow from the Forest Temple and your trusty steed (if you have not freed her from Ingo yet, check out our complete guide to unlocking Epona and winning Ingo's two Lon Lon Ranch races). Big Poes will never appear if you walk across Hyrule Field on foot. Furthermore, they cannot be targeted with ZL and will quickly flee into walls or vanish if you hesitate: you must manually aim two arrows from horseback to defeat each Big Poe, then dismount and scoop its purple flame into an Empty Bottle. With three bottles in your pouch, expect to make at least four trips back to the Poe Collector.

All 10 Hyrule Field Big Poe Spawn Locations

1. Lone tree outside Lon Lon Ranch: Ride straight toward the solitary tree standing northeast of the Lon Lon Ranch entrance.
2. Wooden signpost near Market Town: Gallop past the wooden sign on the main road leading toward the Hyrule Castle Town drawbridge.
3. Stone wall west of Lon Lon Ranch: Ride along the corner of the gray stone wall just west of the ranch perimeter.
4. Grassy ledge near the Kakariko Village stairs: Gallop across the raised ledge overlooking the river just south of the staircase to Kakariko Village.
5. River fork toward Zora's Domain: Cross the point where the stream splits on the eastern side of Hyrule Field along the path to Zora's Domain.
6. Southeastern tree cluster (near Kokiri Forest): Ride through the small group of trees and bushes in the southeastern corner of the field.
7. Gray boulder in southern Hyrule Field: Pass right beside the lone boulder sitting in the southern half of the field between Lon Lon Ranch and Lake Hylia.
8. Wooden fences leading to Lake Hylia: Follow the dirt path heading south toward the Lake Hylia entrance fences.
9. Tree outside Gerudo Valley: Gallop toward the single tree standing right in front of the rocky entrance to Gerudo Valley in the west.
10. Northwestern rolling hills: Ride through the dip in the grassy hills between Gerudo Valley and Hyrule Castle along the western cliffside.

Quick tip if one escapes: if a Big Poe vanishes before your second arrow lands, it is not gone forever. Simply ride a short distance away on Epona and cross its trigger point again with your bow already drawn to make it respawn immediately.

Written by Chaya "Chayane"

🧠 Deep Learning AI & Dev 🗽 New York & Montreal

Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.

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