No, not the flightless one, but the smaller territorial that can over run your backyard with its mounded nest!

First off, dont worry about the male bird, he is fulfilling a special purpose, and doing what nature dictates with his haren of hens is going to be a pretty scrawny specimen anyway.

So with a nice plump hen, the easiest way after "the accident" is to dress and skin the bird. Much easier than plucking, and you wont notice the lice as much.
Joint the carcass into nice even sized pieces, brown in butter in the C/O, add salt/pepper, a good splash of sherry and let cook for a while turning every so often to get a nice even tan on the meat.
Open a tin of apricot halves and add the juice together with enough chicken (if at home I use veal) stock to 1/2 cover the meat. About  one and a half hrs. the sauce should have reduced pretty well and the bird nicely tender. Chop the apricot halves into quarters and add to the C/O.
Use a scraper to deglaze and lift off the bottom, serve with the sauce when the apricots are hot but not falling apart.

We had this with boiled kipfler potatoes and sliced red cabbage cooked in butter and garlic.
mikel

Loved the way you cooked it, I suppose a pre-gutted and defeathered supermarket chook wouldnt quite be the same. 

No, VioletMay, the taste is somewhere between that of koala & platypus with a hint of galah!

Actually the flesh is quite dark, somewhat like (say) a black duck, a definate "game" flavour, no resemblance to chicken. Perhaps similar to pheasant if you have tried that.

The end result seems to depend on what the birds have been eating, their diet changes during the course of the year.

Gee, CD, well ain't you a bit of a "wooz" LOL

Lice?, mate just about anything alive has them. Years ago we did a lot of duck shooting. When the birds were plucked and before dressing they were "singed" This removed the last of the down and knocked the lice off. Otherwise the little buggers quickly looked for new host, usually the bloke holding the bird.

Have seen some interesting things living on and in fish too, especially that "doctor" living in the throat of "yakkas"!

Tight lines for you, anyway I spose you wouldn't like to swap some red emperor for a couple of emu thighs by any chance?
mikel

Over here people pay extra ahead of time for 'free range' turkey or duck.    & Mike, I can't imagine I need to definte 'free range' for you.

I don't plan to keep chickens on my new plantation, but it's a thought.  They could be let out into my veggie garden and pick up some flavour.......

Mick, yep that is the male bird ( and a nice photo too).
Can imagine what it could be like, barrelling down a track, 2stroke on the "power band" when "whoooska" a mob of rampant "bush chooks" rattle across in front.

Bit like we sometimes see outback W. Qld.
Merely pottering along a "track to somewhere" a mob of brumbies will break out of the scrub right in front, manes and tails flying, the thunder of hooves sure makes the "goosies" jump!

So if one of the dunn coloured birds have some sort of "accident" it is not going to damage the flock too much, the male usually has a nice group of 12 or so hens. If you come across one of their mound nests, dont go climbing too much over it, there could be 40 or more eggs in there.

If we were in Europe etc. there would be a licence to shoot a certain number, same as they have with so many other table birds and game animals. Here, if its not ferel, its not legal.
mikel