The final push - the hatching of a Bearded Vulture chick

The captive Bearded Vulture breeding season is underway! Within the Vulture Conservation Foundation's (VCF) Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network (EEP), many chicks already started hatching!
Bearded Vultures are the earliest breeders of the four European vulture species. In captivity, pairs usually start to breed earlier than their conspecifics in the wild. They typically begin to lay eggs in mid-December and continue up until February, with parents sharing brooding responsibilities until the chick hatches after an average of 54 days - some chicks, however, some are artificially incubated. Eggs are usually extracted from the nest a few days before they hatch, and are monitored by human keepers in case the chick needs assistance during hatching. They are then reared by Bearded Vultures to avoid human imprinting, but every case is different.
After about 54 days of incubation, if the eggs are fertile and everything else goes well during the breeding season, eggs are ready to hatch! At Vallcallent Specialised Breeding Centre, which hosts the most challenging pairs, the eggs are artificially incubated - something thought to be inconceivable a few years ago.
In this video, you can watch the final moments of the hatching process of Bearded Vulture chick BG1077 - the offspring of the pair BG371 "Tejo" and BG103 "Dama". The pair laid the egg on 23 January at 10:23, and it was the third egg they laid this season. On the same day at 12:15, the team at the Centre removed the clutch to incubate it artificially. It weighed 221.5g. In addition to the normal automatically egg turning, a method called thermal shock was applied, which was developed by the VCF. This method involves giving eggs a thermal shock four times per day, every time exposing them for five minutes to outside temperatures, which promotes the gas exchange (CO2 and O2) and consequently the development of the embryo while also manually turning the egg 180 degrees. The air cell of the egg pecked on 12 March between 11:30 to 14:00. Two days later on 14 March, between 13:15 to 15:00, the chick pecked the eggshell. The following day on 15 March, the hatching began at 9:45! A few hours later at noon, the chick pecked three-quarters of the eggshell, and it took a long break until it finally decided to hatch at 14:46. The chick did all of this alone, without requiring any human help. It weighed 147.7g, and it is a healthy and strong chick!
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© Vulture Conservation Foundation 2020

[@1aundulxaldin]

Poor baby was doing everything it could just to break out of its' shell. Just breaking out of there looked like it took every ounce of muscle in its' tiny claws and underdeveloped wings. Is this little guy doing okay as of 4 years later?

[@GrimMalchien]

N'awwww! Adorable.

[@yusufalhuyairi1339]

but when they become adults...