It takes 16 feathers, equal to one goose, to make a single feather shuttle.

Feather by feather the goose is plucked

Pick the goose as long as it has feathers

Listen to all, plucking a feather from every passing goose, but, follow no one absolutely

This was a counter-weight to the steep rise of prices we might expect due to the lack of feathers. Still, in 30 years the price for a box of 12 shuttles has doubled.

In Japan, for example, 10 million people play badminton. Annually one might need 12 shuttles per person.