Soft Landings of Tennessee

07/15/2025

Soft Landings will be closed to calls and rescues for hopefully only a short time. All of us have family situations that take precedence right now and we all know that family comes first. In the meantime, if you are in the West Tennessee or North Mississippi area, please contact Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation:
662-333-5565 ducks and geese in N MS and W TN, wildlife in Ms only and 662-612-6455 songbirds

07/02/2025

I saw an article this morning that Chattanooga is considering laying hens within City limits. There would be a limit of eight hens no roosters. This is to allow people to produce their own eggs. If anybody in Chattanooga is planning on attending any of these hearings or speaking for or against this I would love to hear your input. Frankly I think it's a stupid idea because number one you can purchase a chick today and it won't be laying until probably next spring. Number two, 99% of chicks purchased are straight run which means that they are a mix of roosters and hens. And the numbers are against you when you purchase from the straight run bin at tractor supply or any other Farm store. Those chickens are usually the ones that were either unsure of s*x or s*xed as males at the hatchery. The hatchery sells s*x females separately and for much larger amounts. Number three, when you specify laying hens it does not account for what happens when the chickens stop laying. You either have hens or you don't. Whether or not they are laying is not part of the equation.

The wording in this ordinance would treat chickens as disposable and does not account for the fact that they are living creatures. It also does not account for the fact that most people are going to end up with at least one probably more than one rooster and where are they supposed to send them? The city council certainly won't appreciate if they're dropped off in their front yard. And in my experience nobody in the city is going to send their own rooster to freezer camp. Which leaves people purchasing them or taking them for free for nefarious purposes or for food. Because there aren't many people who just take a whole bunch of roosters as pets even though they are amazing pets and very loving and sweet animals. Additionally, rooster crows are less disturbing than a constantly barking dog or loud music played from cars. In fact I believe that a rooster crows at a lower decibel than a lawn mower. Finally, too many people purchased chickens recently because they wanted the eggs. And then they discovered they were too much trouble and they were noisy or smelly or actually required somebody to take care of them and they got dumped. Rescues were overwhelmed. And as a rescuer of ducks, the same thing happens with chickens we just see fewer of them that we can rescue because they get eaten very quickly. Everything loves chicken. Anyway, if you read this ramble hug a chicken and if you're in Chattanooga and want to speak about the issue I'm happy to provide any pointers or information. If you're going to allow chickens in a community then you should allow chickens as a flock. A rooster is part of a flock.

06/16/2025

These save ducklings too! 🙏

If you have an outdoor pool please add a frog log and well as a critter skimmer (comes in round and square, links below). Both of these items can save countless lives every summer, like little Skimmer below, a frog-sized evening bat who was found clinging to clump of leaves in a swimming pool in Colleyville, TX following a severe thunderstorm during the summer.

Little "Skimmer" floated in the pool until he was discovered the following morning by the homeowner. He ended up with aspiration pneumonia and thankfully recovered after several weeks in care. A frog log may have allowed him to find his way out of the pool and safely fly away. Below is a link to purchase frog logs and critter skimmers. They are inexpensive and save countless lives!

06/11/2025

06/08/2025

Good morning! Today I have a little challenge for you. This is baby season for all kinds of animals. Everybody is struggling in the rescue world. We are having to turn people away because we are full. We are struggling because our mental health is suffering due to loss and stress and overwhelm. And for a lot of shelters and rescues, funding is always a problem. So my challenge this morning is that you find a local rescue or shelter that you may not have ever heard about and contact them and ask if there's anything you can do. Ask what is your greatest need right now? A bag of food? Some kitty litter? A Sonic gift card so you can grab food and drinks while you're running back and forth to rescue? Bottled water for your volunteers? Little things mean a lot. Even if you don't have the capacity to help on a schedule or every day or even once a month, just saying thanks I see you and I know you're struggling means a lot to a small rescue. You can find one in your area using the search tool above.

Kindness matters. Support your local rescues. And support your local rescuers!!

❤️ 🐓🐣🦢🦆🪿🦚🦃🦔🐦‍⬛🦜🐔🐁🐇🐍🐸🐊🐢🐱🐶🐰🐭🐹🦝🐷🐴🐈‍⬛🐈🐩🐕🐕‍🦺🐖🐎🐑🐐🦙🦫🦨🐾🐾🐾

Want to help volunteer at your local animal shelter or rescue? Click here for more information.

06/07/2025

Please keep in mind that soft Landings is a domestic waterfowl rescue. We handle abandoned domestic ducks and geese. We do not handle dogs or cats. We cannot handle Wildlife as we do not have any of the necessary permits.

For help with baby birds, mallard ducks, Canada geese, or any other wild bird, please contact Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation. You do not have to be located in Mississippi to ask for their help and they have a number of other rehabbers they can connect you with.
662-333-5565 wildlife
662-612-6455 songbirds

Thank you

06/06/2025

We are so grateful for community members who notice and help dumped ducks! A couple witnessed these 2 Indian Runner ducks get dumped by a family and, instead of turning a blind eye, kept them safe and contacted us. These babies are safe in our care and will be available for adoption soon!

06/01/2025

On our way to Corinth today to pick up this little sweetheart. Looking forward to letting it meet our resident scoliosis duck, Ichabod.

02/10/2025

And then there's the one who just came for the snacks.