So, you think you know farming and the countryside? A quiz for all the family this New Year!
Posted by Lydia Unwin on
Merlin Unwin Books have set a challenge for all countryside enthusiasts. According to the author Jill Mason, even farmers have been surprised to learn what goes on in fields and barns in different parts of the UK. Her new book, ‘Everything you wanted to know about the Countryside (but didn’t dare ask!)’ is an eye-opener.
If you enjoy this quiz there is much more to learn. Everything you wanted to know about the Countryside (but didn’t dare ask!) by Jill Mason is available in all good bookshops and online.
Below are 40 questions, plus answers, based on facts about the countryside from Jill’s book. You can have some fun this New Year putting your family and friends to the test!
QUESTIONS:
1. What’s a “store animal”?
2. Name two common breeds of beef cattle in Britain today?
3. What is a “freemartin”?
4. A castrated beef animal is called what?
5. At what age are beef cattle usually slaughtered?
6. Nearly 90% of British dairy cows are what breed?
7. What is the maximum number of litres of milk a cow can yield per day? 8. A “herdwick” is (a) what species? and (b) native to where?
9. What is a “hogget”?
10. When is a mule not a mule?
13. Which major type of British farming receives no British or EU subsidies or grants? 14. How long is a sow pregnant?
15. Why do pigs have rings in their noses?
16. Two things are stamped on a British egg: name both of them.
17. How long does it take a hen’s egg to hatch?
18. To within 25, what is the number of eggs an average “layer” will produce in her life? 19. What lethal gas is produced in damp poultry litter?
20. What is a male turkey called?
21. Can turkeys bred for the table mate naturally?
22. Where are most ducks farmed in Britain?
23. In what year were veal crates banned in Britain?
24. Where does Britain get the majority of its sugar?
25. Which crop turns fields blue in mid-summer?
26. In which month does the British carrot harvest begin?
29. How many species of deer are there living wild in Britain?
30. How many million people live in the UK today?
31. How many species of mammal live wild in and around the British Isles? 32. Which British hardwood is used to make rifle butts?
33. What are “withers”?
34. How long does the pregnancy of a mare last?
35. What percentage of thoroughbred horses in training ever win a race?
36. How many offspring can a breeding pair of rats produce in 12 months? 37. What was the oldest British fieldsport?
38. What is a family of partridges called?
39. Which game bird is never artificially reared?
40. When was fox hunting banned in Britain?
ANSWERS:
- One bought for fattening
2. Hereford, Limousin, Aberdeen Angus, Charolais, Simmental
3. If a cow gives birth to twins, one male, one female, the female is always infertile. She’s a freemartin
4. A steer
5. Up to 2 years
6. Holstein or Friesian
7. 60 litres
8. A Lake District sheep
9. A sheep in its first year between January and the first shearing
10. When it’s a cross-bred sheep
11. None
12. Approximately 2lbs
13. Pig farming
14. Typically three months, three weeks and three days or 114 days.
15. To stop them digging
16. Lion and sell-by date (21 days after being laid)
17. 21 days
18. 300 eggs
19. Ammonia
20. A stag
21. No, they are too heavy and bulky to mate. AI is used
22. East Anglia
23. 1990
24. Over 50% of our sugar is home-grown
25. Flax or linseed
26. Mid-June
27. 17,000
28. A “garron” is a highland pony used to carry stalked deer off the hillside
29. Six
30. 68 million
31. 107
32. Walnut
33. Shoulders of a horse
34. 11 months
35. 5%
36. 800
37. Hare coursing
38. A covey
39. Grouse
40. 2005