Guess what? Chicken butt!

 With Rosie's prolapse showing no signs of getting better, and having reached the end of our knowledge in treating her, we decided to take Rosie in to the vet. Luckily for us there is a vet within 30 minutes of us who treats chickens and came highly recommended by some friends of ours.

We gave Rosie her (now)customary bath and blow dry and packed her in the car. She was a very good passenger and pretty much just chilled out the whole ride there.

There were a few dogs that came over to say "hello" when we sat down in the waiting area. Luckily no one was feeling aggressive and everyone was just curious about each other.

 The vet, Dr. Robinson, was very good with Rosie. We explained that she's been prolapsed for three days, resulting from trying to lay her very first egg, and that there seemed to be some sort of blockage there that we were hesitant to remove ourselves, not wanting to injure her.

Dr. Robinson cleaned her up and removed the blockage and some dead tissue, and her vent immediately looked worlds better. He said he felt good about her potential for recovery because as soon as the tissue and blockage were gone, she started pulling the prolapse back into herself.

 What's wrong with my butt?

After pushing the rest of the prolapse back in and applying some antibiotic ointment, Dr. Robinson threw in a couple sutures to hold everything in place while it heals. Throughout the entire examination and suturing, Rosie made not one peep. She didn't struggle, she didn't squawk, and Dr. Robinson and his assistant said that she was one of the best-behaved chickens they've ever treated. She didn't even require sedation when he was suturing her.

She's such a sweet little hen.

We're hoping to keep her sutures in for about a week, longer if we can manage, to give her time to heal and for the swelling to go down. We have her back in the big brooder in the living room, this time covered and blocked from the light to discourage further laying. If she does start to lay an egg while the sutures are still in, they'll have to be removed immediately so she doesn't tear. We also have Preparation H and Vetericyn handy to help with keeping the swelling down and protecting against infection.

I'm so proud of my little Rosie-bird. And I'm so relieved to have gotten her looked at by the vet. For our piece of mind and her health, it was totally worth the $95. We'll have to be vigilant about checking her for prolapse for the rest of her life, as once it happens, it's prone to reoccurring. I'm hopeful that since she's so young and we caught it early and got it treated, that she'll heal up well and won't prolapse again. Fingers crossed!