When farmer Rubens Braz started breeding Brazilian chickens, he had no idea how big the operation - or the birds - would get. Some twenty years later, he now raises giant roosters for small-scale farming and hobby purposes in central Brazil and is making a living from surging sales across the country. His birds, called "Giant Indian Roosters," can grow over 120 centimeters (47 inches) tall. "It was a hobby at first," he said in an interview at one of his nurseries in the state of Goias. "Then other breeders got interested and today we have a commercial operation." His firm, called Avicultura Gigante, is still a niche player in Brazil, the world's largest poultry exporter and home to major meatpackers including BRF and JBS. As the global avian flu crisis has put a damper on business this year, limiting the transport of live animals in Brazil, Braz said he has focused on supplying fertilized eggs to nearby farmers.