China now has at least two subtypes of the Influenza A viruses lurking and circulating around its perimeters. And as more members of the poultry and fowls industry get culled, not only food sales get affected but also sales of badminton's shuttlecocks and apparel's down jackets.

Badminton-crazy Indonesia, for instance, is worried the dearth of shuttlecocks could affect not only players' training but also its ambition to outstrip China of its world badminton champion status, and reclaim that spot it once held.

Badminton shuttlecocks are made from cork, leather, and sixteen overlapping goose feathers. The ones used by professional badminton players are made with white goose feathers which usually weigh between 1.7 and 2.1 grammes each.

But badminton aficionados might be force to settle for nylon or plastic shuttlecocks instead since those made with bird feathers are dwindling as China culls its poultry and foul to curb off the rising statistics linked to the H7N9 and H5N1 viruses now hitting the country.

Indonesia sources 40 per cent of its shuttlecocks requirements from China.

The shortage of bird feathers is likewise affecting the manufacture of down jackets, a quilted jacket filled with down feathers, which is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers of a bird. Down feathers are a fine thermal insulator and padding, used not only in jackets but also sleeping bags, beddings and pillows.

An earlier report by Crienglish said prices of feathers jumped as much as 50 per cent in China since the year started because of the H7N9 bird flu outbreak.

"The purchase price of downy feathers is up from 320,000 yuan (AU$52,619) a tonne last year to 540,000 yuan (AU$88,795), which would inevitably lead to a price rise in down clothing," the news outlet quoted a certain Wang, in charge of a leading down coat brand, as saying.

Wang noted the price of a model down jacket has jumped by 20 per cent at a couple of trade fairs this year.