Most vets know diddly squat about chickens, and I do live in a rural area. We have 2 classes of vets here. Large animal vets for farm animals, and domestic pet vets. The first type tells you to wring the necks of sick or injured birds. The 2nd type doesn't have a clue.
Birds bones are very brittle, and rarely mend. [I was a qualified veterinary nurse prior to retirement]. We clipped the feathers and used a strip of plain plaster in a "figure of eight" if it was near the wing joint, and applied a plastic splint if it was on the straight section of bone. Again using plain sticking plaster to secure it. The straight bones ocassionally healed. The broken joints more often than not became rigid. This didn't seem to bother the birds at all, though we kept them away from other birds to stop them being bullied. The vet I worked with had some success with inserting a wire inside a broken straight bone, which was left in permanently. Do not try this at home. :D
