What was wrong with my young easter-egger?

[Chili22]

I had an easter egger Suzy (about 4 or 5 months old), she died on Halloween last year and it's been driving me nuts as to what was wrong with her. It was very obvious there was a problem. Her whole short life, she had very ratty looking feathers, always had her wings down, always looked cold and peeped all day long no matter the situation.
Also, when she was with the other chickens, she would always trail behind, and when they all ducked for cover, she would just wander aimlessly through the yard.
She was very light too and her siblings were already so much bigger than she was.
I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas what could have been wrong with her.
She was such a good girl.

 

[CMV]

She had what is known loosely as "failure to thrive". It's just an umbrella term that covers a variety of issues that would be called "congenital defects" in humans. It is usually as a result of some hidden defect that the bird was born with. The birds just never quite seem as healthy as their peers- a little smaller, a little thinner, feathering in slower (if at all), sleeping a bit more often, etc. They just don't ever seem to do as well as the rest of the birds. Then they usually drop dead suddenly for no apparent reason.

Unfortunately, you will never know what killed your EE. If it's any consolation, there was likely nothing you could have done to change the outcome. Failure to thrive birds often take a lot of care and attention just to eventually die without any overt cause.

Sorry you lost her. I have a soft spot for EEs.

Good luck.

 

[Chili22]

Yeah? That does make a lot of sense. Nothing we ever did for her made her better.
Thanks for the input.