posted 6 years ago
It looks to me like genetics. If you look at its feet, they are inward turned slightly and the duck stops when one foot steps on the other preventing it from making another step. All they have to do is make (2) left foot steps to prevent the foot jam (not to be confused with toe-jam), but ducks do not waddle like that. It is left right left right, so when they get tripped up, they stop and put their wings out in a defensive posture.
If you watch the video carefully, you will see the duck waddles, then stops when the foot crosses the other. It almost puts out its wings, but then at the last microsecond, the foot turns and it waddles ahead again. It does this a second time, starts to set out its wings, but then lurches ahead for a waddle or two, but the third time the ducks feet cross it has partially got its wings out, and just stops and gives up. Imagine if in the span of 35 seconds you "tripped" (3) times? It would get very frustrating.
I had a duck of mine do this. Eventually he learned to double-step on his own.
This may or may not be the cause. It is hard to make a determination from a 35 second video so don't tar and feather me if I am wrong (get it, tar and feather)?