Nanny goat's milk best?

Wei Xingyu feeds his five goats, which produce milk for his baby girl as a supplement to breast milk. Photos by Wen Xinzheng / China Daily

A businessman in Changsha has been feeding his baby girl milk from the goats he has been raising on the roof of his four-story house, rather than rely on commercially produced milk formula. Wen Xinzheng in Changsha and Huang Yuli in Shenzhen report.

Unconvinced by the safety of milk powders, Wei Xingyu from Hunan province's capital Changsha raises five goats on the roof of his house to provide milk for his 4-month-old baby in addition to his wife's breast milk.

The 36-year-old businessman was living in downtown Changsha. But since the weather is overbearingly hot in the city, he has temporary moved his family and goats to his hometown in Changlong village, suburban Changsha.

Changlong village has developed in recent years with new factories and several new roads being built. A few meters away from Wei's old house is a construction site.

But that hasn't stopped Wei from making a pasture for his goats.

Wei was disturbed to read about milk powder being poisonous or of bad quality. So, when his wife got pregnant last year, he bought two cans of goat milk powder, but soon after he read media reports that cast doubts on the quality of this substance. For the safety of his wife and the baby, he decided to raise goats himself.

At the beginning of the year, Wei contacted a farm in Beijing. The farm owner recommended the Swiss Saanen goat, which lactates 10 months each year, and produces 3 liters or more of milk per day.

Wei bought two goats, each costing around 3,000 yuan ($471). In March, one month before his wife's expected delivery, the two goats were transported by train for 17 hours from Beijing to Changsha. More recently, he bought two young does and one buck.

Wei says raising goats is not easy. He planted 1-meter tall "elephant grass" (originally from Taiwan province) in the backyard of the old house. And he feeds the goats twice a day and milks them in the morning.