After such a long incubation period, the kiwi chick now faces the exhausting job of kicking and pecking its way out.   Without an egg tooth to help the process, it has to rely on its huge feet and beak.

The first sign that the chick is ready to face the world is when the egg jiggles slightly. It may stay still for 20 minutes, then jiggle again.

Eventually the chick makes a tiny hole in the air-filled sac inside the end of the egg, pokes the pink tip of its bill through, and breathes air for the first time. Following this exertion, the kiwi chick may sleep for anything from 12 - 48 hours. 

When it awakes, the chick re-doubles its efforts, kicking and pushing against the shell wall which flexes and bells out as the baby bird struggles inside, mewing loudly. Eventually a crack or hole appears in the shell, and the chick's bill pokes through. As the shell slowly cracks open the chick continues to struggle off and on, until at last it is free.

The hatching process can take up to three days. Once the chick is free, the parent stamps on the shell and buries it in the nest, or eats it to regain some lost calcium.

  

If a second egg has been laid in the clutch, this hatches faster than the first egg.  The first chick can be anywhere between one and three weeks old when the second chick arrives.

Massive Yolk Nourishes Chick

Before hatching, the kiwi chick eats the unused portion of its massive yolk reserve,  and does not go outside to feed for the first three to four days.   Although born with huge feet, chicks are often unable to stand up, because their bellies are so distended by the yolk sac.

Unlike chicks of other birds, the newly-hatched kiwi is not covered in down. Instead, its feathers are covered in a slimy coat that dries and flakes off within 24-hours, leaving the chick a miniature version of its parents. 

Next: The new chick's first few days