How bird flu is affecting badminton

The price of quality shuttlecocks have gone up:

But now, shuttlecock makers are having to settle for substandard feathers, and the sport’s devotees in Southern California say the birdies they’re buying just aren’t the same.

“Everybody complains now, ‘What’s wrong with the shuttle?’” Dan Chien of El Monte said after a practice session at the San Gabriel Valley Badminton Club. “It was goose feather, but now it feels almost like duck.”