Kiwi makes rapid entry into the world

BREAKING OUT: Turbo, one of the fastest hatching kiwi chicks at Pukaha Mount Bruce starts to come out of his shell.

A kiwi chick has astonished staff at Pukaha Mount Bruce by hatching in record time.

The wildlife centre's newest chick has been given the unusual nickname of "Turbo" after he hatched in just four hours.

The determined kiwi first broke through his shell at 9am on Monday and was fully hatched by 1pm, surprising staff who did not expect him to make a full appearance until that evening.

General manager Helen Tickner said welcoming a new kiwi was always exhilarating.

"It's always so exciting when a chick hatches here. There's a buzz around the place. It's like we've all had a baby - we are all grinning and smiling. We are all just on cloud nine for the rest of the day."

Staff did not realise Turbo had hatched until they were alerted by a visitor, Mrs Tickner said.

"One of the visitors came up to the desk and said 'I just saw a kiwi hatch' and we thought 'oh, really' - but there it was."

Kiwis can take anywhere from one day to one week to hatch, with most averaging between 18 hours to three days.

Mrs Tickner named the determined chick after the animated movie, Turbo, which charts the progress of a snail who dreams of being the greatest racer in the world.

Turbo has since been moved into the nursery brooder room and staff hope to start introducing him to food this weekend. He will stay in the nursery until he learns to eat independently and has put on plenty of weight.

Once he weighs about 1.2kg, which is usually around six months of age, he will be big enough to defend himself against predators and will be released into the reserve.

The kiwi hatching season runs from September until March, with about 20 eggs hatching every year at Pukaha Mount Bruce, Mrs Tickner said.

"We are continually getting more kiwi out into the reserve, so it's really positive. As far as we are concerned it's working - we are repopulating."

The centre is now home to between 60 to 80 kiwi.

Turbo is the 84th kiwi to hatch at Pukaha Mount Bruce since the breeding programme began in 2009.

Staff hope he will be on view for a public daily midday feed from today but advise visitors to check the centre's Facebook page to confirm beforehand.