Man raised dairy goats on roof for milk

A man in Changsha raised goats on the roof of his house to get milk for his baby.

Still uncertain about the quality of milk powder in the mainland market four years after the melamine milk-powder scandal, 36-year-old businessman Wei Xingyu has five dairy goats in Changsha, Hunan province, the Sanxiang City Express reported on Monday.

Wei bought his first two Saanen goats from a farm in Beijing and brought them to Changsha by train this March, one month before his wife’s expected delivery. He kept them on the roof of his four-story house, feeding them with grass from the suburbs. He never injected them with antibiotics when they were ill.

After his daughter was born in April, he has fed her breast milk, goat milk and baby formula, but mainly goat milk. The baby is healthy — she was 4.2 kg when she was born and now is 8 kg, the report said.

The goat milk also became popular with his relatives and neighbors. Wei bought three additional goats lately to provide milk for his whole family.

Experts recommend against giving babies younger than 3 years old cow milk and goat milk, saying their stomachs and bowels are not yet developed enough. Those aged above 3 can drink fresh milk, but the milk needs to be heated for sterilization first, according to the report.