Don't feel horrible about this. Chicken keeping is a steep learning curve, and chickens are notorious for keeping an illness a secret. They are prey animals, and their instinct is to hide any weakness that would make them a first target for a predator. That makes our jobs harder, though, because it means we have to really examine them for any hints of a problem before they become life-threatening. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen, from cancers to determined predators to just dumb bad luck, that we can't prevent, and then we have a sad ending.
We can only care for them to the best of our ability, learn as much as possible, double- or triple-check facts online, and learn the (sometimes very) subtle signs that there's a problem. Being skinny (is the keelbone pointy or is there meat on both sides), having pale combs when they aren't in molt (for adult hens/roosters), having unusual poop (there's actually a site with normal and abnormal poops for comparison), and any signs of any kind of drainage from the nose, the eyes, the vent, or a wound. And other than feeding them and giving them a safe coop, that's the best we can expect of ourselves.
I'm sorry for your loss.
We can only care for them to the best of our ability, learn as much as possible, double- or triple-check facts online, and learn the (sometimes very) subtle signs that there's a problem. Being skinny (is the keelbone pointy or is there meat on both sides), having pale combs when they aren't in molt (for adult hens/roosters), having unusual poop (there's actually a site with normal and abnormal poops for comparison), and any signs of any kind of drainage from the nose, the eyes, the vent, or a wound. And other than feeding them and giving them a safe coop, that's the best we can expect of ourselves.
I'm sorry for your loss.
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