Down At The Farm

There are about 75 million horses in the world & no two are the same! A horse has a wide range of vision. A horse can see 360 degrees around its entire body (except for small blind spots underneath its head, and directly behind itself). This is why it's very important not to walk up right behind a horse. If you startle it you may get kicked!!

Heat, noise & change of routine all affect their egg production. If you make the chickens think it is daylight (even at night) they will lay bigger eggs with harder shells. Chickens have over 200 distinct noises they make for communicating. Their language gives different alarm calls depending on which type of predator is threatening them.

Sheep have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of hearing. Sheep provide us with meat, wool & leather. Lanolin is natural oil found in the sheep's fleece. It is used to make cosmetics & candle wax.

Despite being classified as herbivores, mice will eat almost anything! The average pet mouse lives between 1-1/2 and 2 years. Wild mice will only live for a few months. This is due to predation from other animals.

Today modern methods of scaring away birds are multiple. On California farmland, highly reflective aluminized PET film ribbons are tied to the plants to create shimmers from the sun. Sometimes automatic noise guns powered with propane gas are used.

A rabbit licks and nibbles on her owner to express affection. When a rabbit is happy, she will click her teeth. Rabbits are not rodents. They belong to a family called "lagomorphs."

The average cow produces 16,800 pounds of milk a year. Cows are an important food source for us, providing us milk, cheese &other dairy products. Cows can detect odours up to five miles away.

A cat's nose pad is as unique as a human fingerprint. No two nose prints are identical. A litter of kittens is called a kindle & a group of cats is called a clowder. A cat's hearing is much more sensitive than a dog's or ours. Cats have 32 muscles in each ear. They can turn their ear very quickly to pick up noise.

Shades of black, grey, brown, tan, red, gold & white. Alpacas are herd animals and depend on the group for their safety. Alpacas will make a very distinctive & loud alert sound if they sense danger.

Donkeys have an incredible memory – they can recognise areas and other donkeys they were with up to 25 years ago. Donkeys are used as guard animals for cattle, sheep & goats. This is because they have a natural aversion to canines & will keep them away from a flock.

Turkeys spend the night in trees. They fly to their roosts around sunset. A wild turkey has excellent vision & hearing. Their field of vision is about 270 degrees. It is because of this they continue to escape some hunters.

They have no sweat glands, so cannot perspire. Pigs have sensitive snouts. They can smell up to 25 feet underground. This is why they are used to help law enforcement teams sniff out drugs. The by-products of pork can be found in thousands of everyday items. Candles, footballs, buttons, hair brushes, glass, floor waxes, crayons, cosmetics, chalk & shoes.

When neither sex has horns, the breed is said to be "polled" or naturally hornless. While horns are usually removed from cows or goats, horns are seldom removed from sheep (unless they pose a danger to the animal).

This was a remarkable achievement, considering that sheep would have been the sheep dog’s natural prey. Sheep dog’s are trained to act on the sound of a whistle or by voice command. Today famer’s still use sheep dogs. They are also great pets!