October is all about kiwi at National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa.
Save Kiwi Week takes place from 19-25 October 2026, providing an opportunity to learn more about the conservation mahi helping protect kiwi across Aotearoa. Here at National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, we're extending the celebration across the whole month of October.
Whether you're visiting us in Rotorua or supporting from elsewhere around the world, there are plenty of ways you can help support kiwi conservation and the work happening here at the Hatchery.
How does National Kiwi Hatchery help protect kiwi?
Protecting kiwi isn't the work of one person or organisation. It takes conservation partners, iwi, wildlife teams, landowners, communities and specialist facilities working together.
National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa plays a hands-on role in caring for kiwi eggs and chicks during some of the most vulnerable stages of their lives.
Eggs brought to our specialist facility in Rotorua are carefully incubated and monitored by our experienced kiwi team. Regular health checks and candling allow our keepers to monitor development inside the egg until the chick is ready to hatch.
After hatching, chicks move into our brooder room where their health, development and feeding are closely monitored. Once they have passed the necessary health checks, they can progress into our purpose-built outdoor kiwi pens.
Here, native planting and a more natural environment give chicks opportunities to practise important behaviours, including foraging and creating burrows, as they prepare for their eventual return to the wild.
This work forms part of Operation Nest Egg, a conservation project designed to improve the survival prospects of kiwi chicks by protecting them during vulnerable early stages of their development.
What is Operation Nest Egg (O.N.E)
In the wild, only 5% of kiwi chicks reach adulthood. With the help of Operation Nest Egg and predator control, we can increase that survival to over 65%.
We have hatched over 2690 kiwi chicks on site since we began in 1995. Sometimes, when fieldworkers go in to lift eggs for O.N.E. they find one of them has already hatched in the forest. We still bring these chicks to the hatchery, so they can grow up to the stoat-proof weight of 1kg and have better chances of surviving to adulthood. We have released 2713 chicks back into the wild since 1995.
We work alongside conservation projects across the North Island, receiving eggs through Operation Nest Egg from partners including Forest Lifeforce Restoration Trust, Whakatāne Kiwi Trust, Ōtanewainuku Kiwi Trust, Omataroa Rangitaiki Kiwi Project, Whinray Eco Trust and Project Kiwi.
Want to learn more about the hatching process? Read about our first kiwi chick of the 2026/27 season
Five ways you can help protect kiwi
You don't have to be a kiwi keeper to play a part in kiwi conservation. From planting native habitat to sponsoring food for a kiwi chick , there are several ways you can directly support the work happening at National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa.
Plant a native tree - $20
Help create a secure and enriching environment for kiwi chicks as they prepare for their return to the wild.
Once chicks pass their health tests, they can move into our purpose-built outdoor kiwi pens, where they're fed daily and regularly monitored. Native planting helps support natural food sources and provides foliage kiwi can use to create burrows, allowing chicks to practise skills they'll need after release.
Sponsor food for a kiwi chick for one month - $35
Our team collaborated with researchers at Massey University to create a specialist meal for kiwi chicks.
The main component is beef heart, combined with wheatgerm, fresh fruit, vegetables, vitamins and minerals. Our kiwi keepers measure the correct proportion for each individual chick and carefully monitor how much it eats.
Sponsor food to help a kiwi become stoat-proof- $175
For $175, you can help provide food for a kiwi chick for a year, supporting the care and nutrition that helps chicks grow towards the weight and size they need to return to their native environment.
Hatch and name a kiwi chick - $2,787
Want to make an even bigger contribution? For $2,787, you can sponsor the journey of a kiwi chick through National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa and choose its name.
When you donate, we'll assign an egg to you and you can choose a name before your chick hatches.
Your donation helps cover the costs of incubation, food, brooder care, time in the outdoor crèche, veterinary checks and medication.
When your chick hatches, we'll send you an update and photo. You'll receive another update as your chick prepares for the next stage of its journey back to the wild.
Make a donation of your choice
Every contribution helps support the conservation mahi happening at National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa.
You can make a donation of any amount under your own name or on behalf of another person or organisation, helping support the work our team does to hatch, care for and release kiwi.
Visiting National Kiwi Hatchery also helps protect kiwi
You can also support National Kiwi Hatchery simply by visiting us.
Every visitor helps secure the future of kiwi while getting a rare opportunity to learn about the conservation work happening here first-hand.
During a guided experience at National Kiwi Hatchery Aotearoa, you'll learn about one of New Zealand's most iconic native birds, explore interactive displays, hear from our kiwi experts and discover what it takes to hatch and care for a kiwi chick.
You'll also step into the darkness of our purpose-built Nocturnal House, where there is an opportunity to see our resident adult kiwi foraging in a natural environment.
October falls within kiwi hatching season, which generally runs from September through to March. Depending on activity within the Hatchery when you visit, there may also be opportunities to see eggs, chicks or aspects of the hatching and care process. Exactly what you see will vary, with the welfare of the kiwi in our care always coming first.
You can help kiwi wherever you are
You don't need to be in Rotorua, or even New Zealand, to help. From planting a native tree and sponsoring food to naming a kiwi chick or making a donation, you can support National Kiwi Hatchery from wherever you are in the world.
You can also follow us throughout October as we take you behind the scenes and share more about the journey from egg to release.