At the City of Bradford’s Board of Health meeting on Tuesday evening, two residents attended to seek approval for their petition to keep fowl on their property.

At the meeting, Mayor Tom Riel was joined by Councilmen Brad Mangel and Terry Lopus in hearing the requests of Connie Brahan and Dianna Cox. Not chickening out in their stances, Brahan and Cox gave the board their takes on raising fowl and asked members of the board what they could do to improve their property and be approved by the city.

Brahan spoke first. She gave the board members a description of her property and where her fowl are kept. Brahan also made note that she had checked with neighbors to see if any had objections to the idea.

Board members brought up a few areas of concern –– one of them was noise. Riel asked Brahan how she would deal with her roosters should they become loud. Brahan explained that she can suppress the noise of her roosters with a collar that restricts how much noise the larynx of the rooster can produce or the rooster could be rehomed.

Both Brahan and Cox addressed the other areas of concern, giving detailed explanations to the board about how they house their animals, how they eliminate smells and how they can prevent fowl from flying.

The concerns were addressed as the board members gave motions to approve the petitioners’ requests and giving them a list of conditions –– including having a veterinarian annually give each animal a check-up and inspect the premises, immediately dealing with any noise issues, and clipping the wings of fowl if needed.

Brahan and Cox must also have their structures meet city code and be approved by inspectors before permits will be issued.