Both sexes undertake a prelaying exodus to build up energy reserves; this usually lasts around 28 days. A single egg is laid, if that egg is lost, then the pair will not attempt another that season. After laying, the male usually undertakes the first incubation stint. Both sexes incubate the egg, in stints that can last up to 13 days. Incubation takes around 50 days. After hatching, the chick is brooded for up to 6 days, until it is able to thermoregulate, after which it is left alone in the nest while both parents hunt for food. It is initially fed with stomach oil, an energy-rich, waxy oil of digested prey created in the parent's gut; later, it is fed both solids and stomach oil. Like many procellariids, wedge-tailed shearwater parents alternate long and short trips to provide food, with the parents alternating between short foraging trips (1–4 days) and long trips (about 8 days), the two parents coordinating their feeding effort. Chicks increase in size to (larger than the adults), then drop to around before fledging. Fledging occurs after 103–115 days, after which the chick is independent of the adult.