Barnyard Trivia

by Jack Blake,
Master Gardener

• Cows have 4 stomachs and can hold up to 35 gallons of liquid.
• A cow can give 100 quarts of milk a week.
• A cow spends an average of 18 hours a day chewing.
• Cows can be identified by nose prints.
• On a day with a light wind, a cow can smell odors up to 6 miles away.
• There are more chickens than people in the world.
• The average American will eat 286 eggs per year.
• The turkey is widely regarded as the dumbest domesticated animal.
• An average American will eat 350 cows, 310 hogs, and 225 lambs in a lifetime.
• At 10 days old, a chick embryo is about 1 1/2 inches long and its feathers are already starting to grow.
• Chickens usually have 4 toes, but some breeds have 5.
• An egg is graded according to the quality of its shell, yolk, and white.
• A horse usually has 3 heartbeats for every 1 breath.
• As a horse matures, its legs grow more slowly than the rest of its body.
• Pigs are one of the few creatures beside humans capable of suffering sunburn.
• Pigs can run a 7 1/2 -minute mile.
• Ducks can swim while sleeping.
• The horse was first domesticated 5000-6000 years ago, in the region of the Black and Caspian Seas.

Okay, that's enough horsing around for now.

Maricopa County Master Gardener Volunteer Information
Last Updated October 4, 2003
Author: Lucy K. Bradley, Extension Agent Urban Horticulture, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County
© 1997 The University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension in Maricopa County
Comments to Maricopa-hort@ag.arizona.edu 4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix, AZ 85040,
Voice: (602) 470-8086 ext. 301, Fax (602) 470-8092