farmyard
Grab your wellies and let’s explore together - welcome to our farmyard learning resource page!
Join us as we explore the farmyard and get to know more about the friendly farm animals, massive machinery and more!
So, let’s dig into some fun, exciting facts from the farm!
First up, some quick-fire facts! Did you know…?
Farming is the oldest industry in the world!
Over 10,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers began to cultivate crops – and with this ability to grow and store food, people began to form larger communities and shape the world as we know it today.
Cows have best friends
Cows are such sociable animals and love to be around their herd. Research has found that when a cow’s buddy is nearby, their heart rate is lower – and they can show their affection by grooming each other and snacking in the same spots.
Chickens can dream
Like humans, chickens experience REM sleep, which is strongly associated with dreaming. They can also display twitches and vocalizations in their sleep – indicating they may be experiencing dreams.
Most land in the UK is used for farming
From grazing animals to growing crops, a whopping 70% of land in the UK is used for agriculture.
There are five types of farming!
Whether it’s crops, cows or both, there are five main types of farming: arable (crops), pastoral (animals), hill (sheep rearing), dairy and cattle (cows kept for milk or meat) and mixed (usually a combo of crops and animals!).
There are over 31 million sheep in the UK!
Recorded in June 2024, the total amount of sheep in the UK is over 30 million – wow!
Millions of tractors are used all around the world every day!
There are lots of different types of tractors and many, many ways they can be used. And you read that right; millions of tractors are used every day – for all sorts of things!
We’re sure that if you’re on this page, you love animals just as much as we do.
So here are some fun and interesting facts about animals that feature on our farmyard design!
First up... cows!
Cows are gentle giants that you find on lots of farms. They are most commonly known for producing milk and meat, but they have some very interesting characteristics that make them all the more fascinating! Let’s moooove on…
- Cows learn by playing!
Something that might surprise you about these large animals – cows learn through play!
They may appear to be slow and steady, but they also love to play – especially as calves. When out in the field, they love to chase each other, run about and even play with balls!
- Cows have an incredible sense of smell!
Research has shown that cows can detect odours from over 8km away – this helps them identify predators and avoid danger.
- Cows have four stomachs (…sort of!)
Cows are known for their grazing ability, and they have an extremely complicated digestive system to get through all that grass. In fact, as ruminant animals, they have four different chambers for digesting their food, allowing them to break down and get nutrients from tough plant material.
Whilst not technically separate organs, this is why you might have heard people say that cows have four stomachs!
- They eat… a lot!
Cows can eat up to 50kg of food daily – and they also drink roughly a bath-full of water every day!
Pigs
- Pigs aren’t as dirty as you think…
Despite their reputation, pigs are not dirty animals - they’re actually quite clean! The pig’s reputation as a filthy animal comes from its habit of rolling in mud to cool off. Pigs that live in cool, covered environments stay very clean.
- They’re bigger than you think!
Fully grown, pigs can grow to between 300 and 700 pounds (140 and 300 kilograms), and sometimes much more.
- Pigs have poor eyesight, but a great sense of smell!
The pig’s nostrils are on its leathery snout, which is very sensitive to touch. The pig uses the snout to search, or root, for food.
- Pigs say more than just oink!
One way pigs communicate with one another is through distinct grunts and squeals. More than 20 vocalizations have been identified, each one conveying a different message. Mothers have special calls for their piglets, and the piglets learn to recognize their mother’s call. Plus, exciting new research is being done to create a pig translator, which could be used to monitor how pigs are feeling, and could pave the way for better treatment of pigs on farms.
Chickens
- Chickens are the closest living relatives of dinosaurs!
Scientific evidence has proven the shared common ancestry between chickens and the Tyrannosaurus rex. Rawr!
- Chickens bathe by covering themselves in dirt!
While this may seem contradictory, the dirt is essential to helping chickens stay clean! Chickens have an oil gland on their back that is used to spread oil over their feathers to make them waterproof. Over time, the oil goes stale, and chickens need to wash the old oil off through dust bathing. Dust bathing is when chickens crouch on the ground and spread dirt or another dusty material over their body. The stale oil sticks onto the particles of dirt and gets shaken off. Chickens can then spread fresh oil onto their feathers.
- Chickens can remember (up to) 100 faces!
Chickens can recognise over 100 different faces, even after being separated for extended periods of time, highlighting their long-term memory capabilities. These faces don’t just include chickens; they can recognize the faces of humans, too!
Goats
- They are very picky eaters!
They have very sensitive lips, which they use to “mouth” things in search of clean and tasty food. They will often refuse to eat hay that has been walked on or lying around loose for a day.
- Are you smarter than a goat?
Goats are very intelligent and curious animals. Their inquisitive nature is exemplified in their constant desire to explore and investigate anything unfamiliar that they come across.
- Goats have rectangular pupils!
This shape allows them to have a wider field of vision than humans and other animals that have circular pupils. They can see 320-340 degrees around them, without having to move. The ability to see everything around them, except for what is directly behind them, is very useful in avoiding predators. However, goats must move their head if they want to look up or down due to the rectangular pupil shape.
Horses
- Horses have been around for a long time!
The earliest ancestor of the horse is estimated to have lived 55 million years ago and was only the size of a Labrador retriever! Horses were domesticated around 6000 years ago, estimated from evidence found at archaeological sites.
- Horses have lightning-fast reflexes
As a prey animal, horses need to react quickly should a flight-or-fight situation arise. When they need to fight, horses can go from standing still to delivering a powerful kick in just 0.3 seconds, whereas human reaction time is 1.6 seconds.
- Horses can sleep standing up
Horses have a “stay-apparatus,” which is a system of tendons and ligaments that allows the horse to lock their legs in position so they can relax without falling over. When not sleeping, horses also use this apparatus to rest while standing for long periods of time. This allows them to conserve energy while standing, so they are ready to take flight if needed. It is a myth that horses never lie down – they do spend a short amount of time each day lying down for deeper sleep. On average, horses sleep two and a half hours per day.
Sheep
- Sheep have ewe-nique personalities
While sheep in a flock may all look the same at first glance, they each have a unique personality! Some of the personality traits that have been identified in sheep are shyness and boldness. Some sheep may be bold and adventurous, while others may be more cautious and shy.
- Lambs have play dates
Just as our pets may have play dates with others, so do sheep! After about the first week of life, lambs form play groups. Play behaviours in lambs and sheep are well documented, including bucking, spinning, and running around. These behaviours indicate that sheep, like most other animals, express positive emotions when they have the space and freedom to interact with one another.
- Sheep are emotionally complex
Sheep experience a wide range of emotions, just as humans do. Many studies have highlighted the ability of sheep to feel afraid, angry, bored, sad, and happy. Not only can sheep feel basic emotions, but their feelings can be very complex. For example, scientific studies have shown that sheep can display optimism, pessimism, and empathy! Sheep are sensitive to emotional expressions and can recognize emotion in the facial expressions of their flock mates – an important skill to keep the flock safe.
Dogs
- Sheepdogs are not all border collies
The classic sheepdog image is that of a black and white dog, sometimes with a long coat and sometimes with a short coat and prick ears.
However, what you may not realise is that not all sheepdogs are border collies. In fact, there are a variety of different breeds that have historically been used to gather and manage flocks of sheep – including Huntaway, Bearded Collie, and Kelpie dogs.
- Sheepdogs are born with a natural herding instinct
Different breeds of sheepdog have their own ways of working with the sheep.
Huntaways are known as driving dogs, barking at the sheep from their position at the back of the flock, to drive the flock forward. Border collies, meanwhile, are natural herders. With the right training and commands, they will circle a flock of sheep, with their natural instinct stepping in, pushing the flock towards their handler.
- The word ‘Collie’ translates to ‘Useful’
The border collie is arguably the most famous sheepdog breed still used across farms and fields today. But do you know where the name came from?
In the old Gaelic language, the word ‘collie’ was used to describe anything useful. As such, the collie dog was (and remains) by definition, a ‘useful dog’
Ducks
- Ducklings are loving siblings and communicate with each other before hatching!
Ducklings coordinate hatching by communicating with each other while they’re still in their eggs. Hatching at the same time is important because sticking together as a group helps protect them from predators. After hatching, they swim and walk together, following close behind their mothers. Even as adults, ducks prefer to be in a group, which brings us to our next fact …
- Ducks have regional accents.
Regional accents are just another example of ducks’ ability to adapt to their environment. Middlesex University researcher Dr. Victoria de Rijke recorded the sounds of ducks in the heart of London and compared them with those of ducks living in the countryside. She found that the ducks in London had a louder, rougher quack because they had to shout above the noise of city life. The ducks in the country “made longer and more relaxed sounds.” Dr. de Rijke even noted how similar their sounds were to those of humans living in the same area.
- Duck bills are as sensitive as human fingertips and palms.
Duck bills have touch receptors similar to those in human fingertips and palms, which help them look for food in murky water. A broken bill can cause excruciating pain, a reality for many ducks who are used in the foie gras industry, where workers ram metal pipes down their throats and force-feed them until their livers swell to up to 10 times their normal size.
Types of machinery you can find on a farm
