In just five days, staff hope to see the first takahe chicks hatched at the the Orokonui Ecosanctuary.
They should know by Wednesday whether an egg swap yesterday will be a success.
Takahe Paku (13) and her mate Quammen (15) have been nesting an infertile egg,which was carefully removed yesterday and replaced with two fertile eggs from atakahe breeding centre near Te Anau.
Takahe eggs take 30 days to hatch, and the replacement eggs were already 22 and 25 days old.
Although the transfer took less than a minute, the triumphant ''Ta-da!'' from ecosanctuary conservation manager Elton Smith after the eggs were placed reflected the swap's importance.
Mr Smith said there were only 285 takahe left in the world and every new one counted.
It was hoped the parents of the fertile eggs would lay another two in the next two to three weeks, after losing those taken to Orokonui.
''By doing [the swap], hopefully the whole takahe recovery programme will benefit by an extra two chicks this year,'' Mr Smith said.
It was a positive end to a bad year, after a stoat breached the ecosanctuary's $2million perimeter fence in June.
''If we had baby takahe running around in five days' time it would be really awesome.''
The ecosanctuary hopes to receive a fertile takahe pair next year. Staff could then swap eggs around themselves.
Department of Conservation senior takahe ranger Glen Greaves, of Te Anau, performed the swap.
He said the eggs had a ''good chance'' of hatching, although the chicks' future was unclear, as takahe had a 70% survival rate.
- Allison Hess
