Thursday, January 28, 2016
By Denise Dick
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 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.
The one rooster is the couple’s pet. He doesn’t have a name, but he crows back when Rojas whistles at him. He also crows periodically throughout the day.
They keep the hens for their eggs. It’s a cost savings, Sepulveda said, and she believes she can produce healthier meat and eggs than what’s available at the grocery store.
Cioffi said she would send a certified letter to the couple with her recommendation by week’s end. That will go to the planning commission that will either approve or deny a conditional use permit for the couple.
“This is one of the better set-ups that I’ve seen,” she said.
Cioffi asked the couple if they would be willing to get rid of the rooster if the planning commission requests it. The panel may be concerned about the noise.
“It’s no different than a dog when a dog barks,” Sepulveda said. “I really don’t want to” get rid of the rooster.
They are so henpecked, chicken wallpaper and rooster decor adorns the kitchen of the couple’s home.
They’ve maintained chickens for about three years and didn’t know they needed a permit.
Neighbors surrounding the couple’s home received letters to attend a hearing earlier this month.
One showed up. Perhaps the others were too chicken.
The woman who attended the hearing said she originally objected to the birds, but she said she grew used to them.