The poison was in the ice cubes.

He drank the punch before the ice cubes melted.

• Chickens  – 12 – Barn yard – 20 min
• Cows – 2 – Grain room – 5 min
• Goats – 6 – Vegetable garden – 10 min
• Horses – 5 – Lawn – 15 min
• Sheep – 4 – Hay field – 10 min

Explanation:

From (2), Chickens  = 12
From (6) Chicken = goats + 6.  So goats = 6 .
From (6) goats = Sheep + 2. So sheep = 4

From (3) and (5) cows and horses have to be either of 2 or 5.
So maximum number is 12 – chickens

From (4) it took 20 minutes to catch 12 chicken
From (5), It took 10 minutes to catch 6 goats
Using (8) , it took 10 minutes to catch 4 sheep

Using (8) 4 sheep in the hay field took 10 minutes to catch ——————(A)

Using (7), it took 15 minutes to catch the horses
So the 12 chickens in the barnyard took 20 minutes to catch …………………….(B)

Using (5), It must have taken 5 minutes to catch the cows.
Also then cows = 2. So horses = 5

Using (4) 2 cows were in the grain room took 5 minutes to catch……………….(C)
Using (1), 5 horses in the lawn took 15 minutes to catch………………………………(D)

That leaves us with
6 goats in the vegetable garden took 10 minutes to catch ……………………………(E)

Answer – 40 miles 

Distance travelled by hare = x
Distance travelled by tortoise  = y

x + y = 55 ………(1)

Time taken by hare to cover distance x = x/8
Time taken by tortoise to cover distance y = y/3

x/8 = y/3
3x= 8y …………..(2)

Solving (1) and (2), x = 40, y = 15

Hare travels 40 miles and tortoise travels 15 miles. They meet after 5 hours.