Avian Flu Affecting Shuttle Prices?

bird flu or no bird flu.... prices will go up as supply cant keep up with demand. like you guys mentioned... the increasing cost of labor and materials, compounded by the bird flu mess making it a lil bit harder to acquire quality goose feathers at the cost of yesteryears.

Makes you kinda wish that badminton doesnt get so popular that feather birdies become a luxury item.

anyway... there is a joke going around that badminton is the primary cause of bird flu, since we divest the geese of their feathers, they get cold easily and end up with the flu :p :p
 
carlol said:
anyway... there is a joke going around that badminton is the primary cause of bird flu, since we divest the geese of their feathers, they get cold easily and end up with the flu :p :p
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HAHAHA:D:D:D
That's a good one!!!!
So we are supposed to not play badminton for a while and hopefully they will become better :rolleyes: :p
 
or play with nylon birdie if it doesn't give you guys the chills or goosebumps :p
 
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investment update

kwun said:
it depends on the rate of price increase vs. inflation. shuttle prices always goes up. i remember when i was a kid, a dozen tube of feathers cost around HK$30 then (around US$4). nowadays, they are least $80 if not $100 or more.

it is true that China will get more and more expensive as labor cost goes up. but remember, nowadays there are so many things that are also manufactured in China and the rise in cost will affect those items as well. the end result is that the whole global economy as a whole will see rise in inflation.

and the smart manufacturers will find alternatives if China indeed start becoming pricey. maybe move to India or other developing nations?

so i am not sure if your prediction will be a certainty. only time will tell.
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for those who ( ;) ) stock up on feather shuttle on my projection, u made money ;) . During the last 6-9 mths, feather price alone had gone up 30%. With avian flu aint going away, and booming chinese economy, those nice pok sound will cost ya more now, well, more than inflation. :p

Happy pokking.
 
Labour,electricity, water and other costs are going up in coastal towns and cities in Mainland China. The next alternative will be China's hinterland.

kwun said:
it depends on the rate of price increase vs. inflation. shuttle prices always goes up. i remember when i was a kid, a dozen tube of feathers cost around HK$30 then (around US$4). nowadays, they are least $80 if not $100 or more.

it is true that China will get more and more expensive as labor cost goes up. but remember, nowadays there are so many things that are also manufactured in China and the rise in cost will affect those items as well. the end result is that the whole global economy as a whole will see rise in inflation.

and the smart manufacturers will find alternatives if China indeed start becoming pricey. maybe move to India or other developing nations?

so i am not sure if your prediction will be a certainty. only time will tell.
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cooler said:
for those who ( ;) ) stock up on feather shuttle on my projection, u made money ;) . During the last 6-9 mths, feather price alone had gone up 30%. With avian flu aint going away, and booming chinese economy, those nice pok sound will cost ya more now, well, more than inflation. :p

Happy pokking.
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feather shuttles $$ are still going up :(
 
wondered if anybodoy had had any more recent updates on this as it's been in the UK news quite a bit today after the Dutch told their poultry farmers to lock their stock up in buildings.. and also that their had been deaths in asia from it...

surely there must be a risk to people work in shuttle factories?

Coops
 
bluejeff said:
I just watched some news online and it says that FAO (the federal organization of agriculture...) stated that the Bird Flu is far from being controlled. Even worse, the bird flu is now expanding to Malaysia and Thailand. People are still trying to do find a way to eliminate it but so far no good.

So I guess the shuttles price will be kept on going up, at least that's what it looks like for this year (and likely next year, too if it's not controlled)
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as we all know now, bird flu had spread to russia and european countries. I think it's matter of time to reach north america from migratory geese that summer in russia flies to alaska and down south western coast for winter.
 
The Bird Flu is definitely already increasing shuttle prices. DHS China raised the price $2/tube and this is wholesale! :eek:
 
This is probably a good time for manufacturers to think about other possibilities :)

let's see.....
1. Plastics -> nah.....
2. Duck or chicken feather -> nah....plus they are affected by flu as well.
3. other sources? Maybe they can use cotton? :confused:
 
[cynicism]
mebbe there is no bird flu - mebbe it's a yonex profiteering ploy to put up shuttle prices

all the people that died were removed for knowing too much :)

[/cynicism]

lol..

on a lighter note.

i'm sure i saw somwhere that they grew a human ear on a mouses back - why not just find a way of growing feathers without the bird????

recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed the creation of fluorescent rabbits and monkey's. i bet with yonex's capital they could engineer sheets of 'skin' that are identical to the goose wing where the shuttle feathers come from. feed these sheets of skin the right nutrients and they should grow the same way as goose wings do..

i'm sure this would please animal rights activists.. imagine .. if it works for feathers.. next it would be fur, leather etc etc etc...

sheesh - what a great way to make money.. altho i would guess the prices of all of these would rapidly decline once a mass production method was discovered..

Coops
 
I still say, US should look for the biggest geese exposter of the world for feather, Canada. Why, you may ask. Since the rule book did not specify what color of the shuttle has to be. We can use brown feather from the Canadian geese. Since they grow in wild, no cost to raise them. :D All you need is is a shotgun ($100 US for a OK one) $0.25 for each shell. :p Let's go harvesting feather. This way, less crap on my car during the migration season. Extra money for my Canadian friends and cheaper shuttle for all. This is a win win situation!
 
i saw vining batting around a black(or really dark grey) dyed feather shuttlecock. From from distance, it look like they were hitting a dead bird back and forth.
 
I wonder why shuttle manufacturers haven't come up with synthetic shuttles that use faux feathers instead of nylon skirts. With the advance in material technology, surely we can produce synthetic goose feathers that are just the real thing? Thus, we can use them to make shuttlecocks that have identical characteristics as feather ones except that we don't have to kill any geese and ducks to make them, and we won't be affected by minor inconveniences like the avian influenza virus.

Any material engineers here who may be able to shed some light into difficulties in producing synthetic goose feathers?
 
cooler said:
i saw vining batting around a black(or really dark grey) dyed feather shuttlecock. From from distance, it look like they were hitting a dead bird back and forth.
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lol, that made my day, :D
 
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