The Pond Is the Problem After Dark
By day, a duck on water is in her safest place. On fireworks night the equation flips: bangs and flashes startle a flock that is sleeping exposed on a pond, and panicked ducks flush upward and outward in the dark — over fences they ignore in daylight, into neighboring gardens, onto roads, or simply into the night, where a grounded duck is easy prey for every fox and owl in the parish. Ducks have poor night vision and no plan once airborne in the dark. So while chickens mainly need to be shut in, ducks need to be brought in from the water and the run altogether, and that takes a little more organizing than closing a pop-hole.
Use the Flock's Greed and Routine
Ducks are creatures of path and habit, and the experienced keeper exploits both. Run the normal evening routine early: the usual call, the usual feed scattered along the usual route to the house, at an hour when the flock is hungry and the light is still good. A flock that herds itself in for supper every evening of its life will do it on fireworks night without any sense that tonight is special, which is precisely the goal. What fails is novelty — a keeper appearing at dusk with nets and helpers to catch ducks off a pond as the first bangs sound, which teaches the flock that the house, the keeper, and the evening itself are frightening.
Inside the house, set up for a longer night than usual: feed available, drinking water deep enough for proper head-dipping so eyes and nostrils stay clear, deep dry bedding, and ventilation open. Do not try to soundproof the house by sealing it; a hot, airless duck house distresses the flock faster than distant fireworks do.
The Birds and Situations to Single Out
Flighted breeds and light ducks are the escape artists of a panic flush, so their shut-in matters most and should happen earliest. Ducks sitting on eggs should be shut in on the nest where possible rather than lifted off it; a sitting duck moved at dusk may abandon the clutch, while one enclosed where she sits usually settles. Ducklings outdoors with their mother come in with her — never separate a family to make catching easier, since a duckling's safety on a frightening night is its mother's body and voice.
If your flock free-ranges widely, start the evening round early enough to walk the whole ground, and check the pond and any favored ditch or hedge bottom for the duck who did not come to the call. Finding her before dark is a stroll; finding her after the display starts is a search.
Morning Count and Condition Check
Let the flock out at something like the normal hour and count deliberately — ducks are masters at being quietly absent. Watch for anyone limping, holding a wing down, or sitting apart and reluctant to head for the water, and walk the run fencing and pond edge for signs of a night-time collision or a bird still outside. Most flocks show nothing worse than a day of reduced laying, which rights itself.
A duck found injured, or one who will not bear weight or join the flock by the second morning, needs a veterinarian; and a duck missing entirely should be searched for methodically in daylight — they hide silently and well when frightened, usually closer than you fear.
KinsLe's Family Sharing puts the ducks' fireworks-night routine — early call-in, headcount, morning check — into the flock's shared profile notes, so the plan survives the usual keeper being away for the evening.