Why fireworks unsettle even a steady Wyandotte flock
Wyandottes are solid, cold-hardy hens known for a calmer nature than many laying breeds, but a chicken's alarm system is built around sudden light and concussion from above, which is exactly what a firework delivers. A flash through the coop window followed by a bang can send roosting birds flapping down in the dark, piling into corners, knocking each other off perches, and battering at the pop door. Wyandottes are too heavy for sustained flight, yet a panicked hen can still clear a low run fence in one scramble or squeeze through a gap she ignores on a normal day, and once separated from the flock in the dark she is exposed to predators and traffic. Securing the whole flock inside before the first rocket removes most of that risk in one move.
Close the coop early and make the inside boring
Call the flock in with their usual feed routine well before dusk, scatter a small amount of their regular feed inside the coop rather than the run, and count heads as they file in. Latch the pop door and the run gate, check the coop door catch holds when pushed from inside, and inspect wire and corners for a hole a frightened bird could widen, especially low gaps near the floor where hens pile. Leave ventilation high and open, because a shut, stuffy coop harms birds faster than noise does, but fix a board or thick cloth you already use over windows that face the display so flashes become a dull glow rather than a strobe.
Inside, confirm perches are sound and not overcrowded for the number roosting, water is filled and stable on the floor rather than perched where it can spill, and there is enough litter that birds landing heavily from a perch land softly. Remove hanging feeders at head height that swing into flapping wings, and leave no torch, heat source, or new object in the coop that was not there the night before.
Leave them alone while the banging lasts
The kindest check on a chicken flock mid-display is usually no check at all through an opened door, because light spilling in and a looming silhouette trigger the very flush you are preventing. Listen from outside instead: brief scuffling that settles is normal, while sustained screaming, repeated heavy thudding, or one bird calling alone and continuously is worth a careful look with a dim light held low, speaking before you open up. Keep dogs, cats, and children away from the run for the evening, park vehicles elsewhere, and ask anyone shooting fireworks on adjoining land to aim away from the coop if that conversation is possible. Do not move birds to a garage, crate, or house for the night unless that is a space they already know, as unfamiliar confinement stresses a Wyandotte more than bangs heard from her own perch.
Count, inspect, and recover a missing hen at first light
When the neighbourhood has gone quiet, open up in normal order and count again slowly, checking under perches, inside nest boxes, and in the run corners where a hen who slipped a side gap often waits pressed against wire. Look over each bird you can handle for limping, torn skin from wire, or laboured breathing after a pile-up, and watch that the lowest-ranking hens still reach feed and water once the flock spreads out. If a bird is missing, search low cover near the coop first before widening out, since a heavy Wyandotte usually shelters close rather than travelling far. To be ready for that search, keep her details current on KinsLe through the Lost Pet Alert System, so households close by hear she is missing and a householder who spots her sheltering can get word back to you promptly.