My La Bresse Hen has a drooping tail. What should I do?

[OldSalty]

So this evening at about 8 something I noticed that my hen had a drooping tail and wasn't moving much. Her eyelids sometimes remained semi-closed and her comb was a bit pale. I haven't checked her vent to see if it could be egg binding. I doubt it is since she laid an egg at around 11 to midday although she stepped on it I believe, thing is its broken and the yolk and white has leaked away. I'm not sure what I should do but I am not considering bringing her to a vet since she isn't a pet. She is an asset to me. I don't mean to be cold-hearted and I love animals but I am in no position to shell out vet funds for her. I am perfectly fine with putting her down to eat as well. Please, no backslash. I would love it if she made it through fine but I honestly can't justify paying vet fees for one chicken that might die anyways. I mean I rear them for meat they are not pets to me.

 

[s k y]

I am wondering what your question is?

 

[OldSalty]

I am wondering what your question is?

Well my question would be is this behavior normal in chickens and if not what should I do?

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? Are her egg shells normally thick? Many things can affect chickens. Giving a good look over for lice or mites, checking droppings for diarrhea and color, feeling of the crop in early morning when it should normally be empty before eating, and making sure she is eating would be good to do. Laying or reproductive problems can be common, and intestinal infections sometimes will cause problems. I have lost a couple to crop or gizzard blockages. Worms if in a heavy load can cause problems. Sometimes it can take some time to figure it out, and sometimes you have to look after death and do a necropsy to find the cause.

 

[OldSalty]

The thing is with this particular hen she is very shy and easily frightened. I mean when we clipped her wings she was very quiet for a while after even though we took care in doing so. I believe the previous owner might have caused this behavior. Maybe she is just in a panic phase? I don't know her exact age but her eggs are about a medium-ish size I remember somewhere that younger hens lay larger eggs whilst older ones have smaller ones so I think she is somewhere in between not near the extreme youth or elderly phase. Her egg shells are normally not that think anyways but I did some research and I found out that La Bresses didn't really produce great eggs and the shell for their eggs are thin in comparison with other breeds. The roosters that live with her once stepped over a cardboard box and the egg near it was squashed and was instantly broken. I'm not sure if that is useful to know but it kinda shows the durability of her eggs? Her droppings are slightly more watery than usual but nothing I would be concerned about its very marginal. She appeared sleepy for a while. I had a 7 week old go into a "drowsy" stage once for a day or two but its fine now. Also one more thing. La Bresses are very rare where I live so the guy I got them from might have been inbreeding them for a long time. He's had them for three years but I have no idea how many he got initially.