Orana Kiwi Chick Two Weeks

Orana Wildlife Park staff are devastated by the loss of their three week old Kiwi chick. The little chick was the first Kiwi to hatch at Orana in nearly a decade and was one of the smallest Kiwi hatched in captivity.

Head Keeper of Native Fauna, Tara Atkinson, says staff are mourning the loss of the Kiwi: "The poor little chick encountered numerous problems from incubation onwards and had a major operation only a few days ago. We were constantly amazed at the fighting spirit and sheer determination shown by the chick - it really had a will to live but ultimately faced just too many major challenges."

The problems encountered were numerous. For example, when the egg was taken for incubation, multiple holes were found so staff patched them with clear nail varnish. Keepers then became concerned at the lack of development of the egg and feared bacteria had seeped into it. Later, when the chick attempted to 'internal pip' (break into the air cell), it missed the air cell by a few millimeters. Keepers removed some egg shell and made a small hole in the membrane to enable the chick to breathe. The Kiwi was trying to hatch out the side of the egg, rather than through the top. Generally, if the chick misses the air cell then it will not survive.

The chick then attempted to hatch for a period of seven days before staff were advised to intervene and assist-hatch the Kiwi by removing layers of shell and membrane to free the bird. Park staff, who were hatching a Kiwi chick for the first time, were given step by step advice from Claire Travers of Kiwi Encounter (Rotorua) via speaker phone resulting in the successful hatch.

On hatching, the chick had a partial external yolk (normally fully absorbed in the egg) meaning staff then had to massage the yolk through the chick's navel before the muscles clenched. Staff only had a few minutes to perform this task otherwise the Kiwi could have died there and then.

"Since hatching, the chick had splints applied to its feet to straighten them and was force fed as it had lost too much weight. The chick then had a major operation when it was just two weeks old to remove a massive 40 gram non-absorbed yolk sac. The bird only weighed 171 grams before the operation! As a comparison, the average weight for a two week old Kiwi chick is 300 grams. To our amazement, the chick was very active the morning after the operation showing its fighting spirit" adds Tara.

Following the operation, the Kiwi's weight plummeted to just 99 grams. Staff were in regular contact with Rainbow Springs for advice. Keepers had to force feed the bird four times daily and on Saturday morning it experienced the first weight gain (to 101 grams) in weeks. Sadly, the little chick died on Saturday afternoon and staff are awaiting the results of a post mortem.

"This precious little bird taught us a great deal. In fact our entire team has learnt more about Kiwi rearing and management in the past few weeks than we ever knew. Whilst deeply saddened by its loss, we know we did everything we possibly could for the chick. I would like to thank the Park vet and staff at Kiwi Encounter for their advice and support" adds Tara.