Hmm. Usually if a reward is offered, it's implied "no questions asked." And no violence attached, lol! Just assume the nice people returning your ducks happened to find them running loose and were happy to return them to their rightful owner. Have you checked with local animal control, animal...
Lived in a smallish town next to a crazy lady once. No birds but I had the sweetest little half-grown Rottweiler pup. I had a fenced yard where he stayed while I was at work. He was padlocked in. This crazy lady unfastened the hinges from the corner posts and let my guy out, then called Animal...