Badminton birdies went up in price by 65 to 81 cents for a pack of 12 thanks to fear of Avian flu in China a few years ago. The supply of duck feathers needed to make them dwindled in 2013 due to the H7N9 bird flu outbreak.

Jin Xinchang, vice-chairman of the Badminton Association in Wuwei county, a shuttlecock manufacturing hub in Anhui, said that about 90 million people play badminton in China, and use about 1.92 billion feather shuttlecocks a year.

"The feather market is in total chaos," said Li Min, whose business focuses on supplying processed feathers to shuttlecock producers. "In just 20 days after the outbreak of H7N9, the price of natural duck feathers increased by about 40 percent. And even with the high price, it's hard to get them right now."

Tian Yongyun, a feather middleman who has been collecting natural duck feathers for decades in Jiangxi and Fujian provinces, where H7N9 cases have also been reported, said farmers' supply of duck feathers has decreased 67 percent.

"Last April, I could buy 10,000 to 15,000 kg of duck feathers," he said. "Now it's down to 3,000 to 3,500 kg."

More Info: usa.chinadaily.com.cn