A duck's first night is won or lost on security, because a duck is at her most vulnerable after dark: she sleeps on the ground, cannot fly away from trouble in most domestic breeds, and will sit exposed in the open if nobody puts her to bed. The first evening at your place should therefore end with the new duck shut inside a dry house she will learn to return to, with the water and bedding arrangements that keep a duck healthy through the night, and with as little chasing as possible to get her there.
The house must be ready and truly secure
Prepare the duck house before she arrives, with deep, dry bedding on the floor, since ducks sleep flat on the ground rather than on perches, and a low, wide entrance she can walk up without jumping, ideally with a gentle ramp if the doorway sits above ground level. Check security as a predator would: no gaps at ground level, mesh or boards a raccoon's paws cannot reach through near where she will sleep, and a latch that fastens positively, because a duck house is only as safe as its door. Inside, place a drinker she can dip her entire head into, since ducks must wash their eyes and nostrils in water, on a mesh or slatted corner if you can, because she will splash and the bedding around open water turns sodden overnight. Put feed in a low, stable dish she cannot tip into her own bedding.
Getting her in without a chase
Ducks herd better than they catch, so walk her slowly toward the house with your arms spread wide and a helper or a temporary fence line guiding the open side, well before dusk while you can still see what you are doing. A new duck released loose at bedtime will hide under the nearest structure and have to be dragged out, which teaches her that you and the house both mean trouble. If she travels and arrives with other ducks, settle them together; ducks are deeply social and a lone new duck should at least hear and, through a mesh divider for the first nights if she joins an existing flock, see the birds she will live with. Once she is in and the latch is set, leave her; ducks mutter and shuffle as they arrange themselves, and repeated door-opening only restarts the commotion.
Water, warmth, and age differences
An adult duck needs no swimming water overnight and is safer without a pool in the house area she could chill in, but a young duckling still on heat at her previous home needs her warmth continued without a break, so confirm her age and setup before she travels and have the brooder or heat source running on arrival. Adult ducks cope with cold well if dry and out of drafts at floor level, which is where ventilation should be planned to avoid, while still clearing the ammonia that builds from wet duck bedding faster than from chicken litter. Check late in the evening from outside the house simply that all is quiet and the latch held.
The mornings that build the routine
Let her out at a consistent time into a secure run for the first several days rather than free-ranging the whole garden, scattering a little feed near the house door so foraging starts beside home. Ducks learn the evening route quickly when the same person walks them in at the same time with the same quiet pressure, and within a week most walk in ahead of you. Note how she ate, drank, and settled across the first nights, especially if anything in the house needs adjusting. KinsLe Family Sharing keeps that lock-up routine and house notes on her shared profile, so whoever puts the ducks to bed follows the same pattern she has learned.