At the East Side coop, only 8 are left

YOUNGSTOWN

All but eight chickens have flown their East Side coop.

Victor Rojas and Luz Sepulveda of Stewart Avenue have one rooster and seven hens.

“We used to have about 40,” Sepulveda said.

They sought a permit from the city planning commission earlier this month to keep their chickens. That decision was postponed until next month to allow the city health department to inspect the Stewart Avenue home again.

That happened Wednesday when Tara Cioffi, the city health department’s environmental health director, met the couple at their home, photographing the birds and inspecting the coops. The couple keeps the birds in the garage behind the home. The rooster is kept in a separate enclosure.

The “yolk” of the issue is the number of chickens. Their 40 chickens exceeded the health department’s recommendation to prevent a public health nuisance. The city’s hard-boiled number is eight.

Rather than getting their feathers ruffled, the couple complied, culling the flock to the recommended number.

“We ate them,” Sepulveda said.

Read more about the situation in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.