Longdown Activity Farm near Ashurst is offering city slickers the chance to step into a farmer's muddy boots, and there was a queue for places even before the scheme was launched on Saturday.

Farmer Bryan Pass says the rookies won't be dropped in the deep end - of the silage bin.

They won't have to arrive shiny-wellied for the 6am milking of Longdown's Friesian herd and they won't have to change the shoes on Billy the shire - one of Hampshire's biggest horses. But they will be expected to spend a nine-to-five day working up a traditional sweat.

"We're trying to really give a feel of what farming is like," said Bryan.

"So many people, even locals, have some amazing ideas. We had a lady visitor the other day convinced that Ivan the bull was calving! She told everyone round her and there was quite a crowd when I arrived."

Bryan said the one-day farmers wouldn't go in Ivan's pen - just in case he's in a bad mood. The large white pigs are another no-go area.

"Large whites have very sharp teeth, so we don't let the public feed them.

"But Kuni-Kuni pigs have short jaws and smaller teeth and I've never known them bite. Rodney and Del Boy the Peruvian pigs are softies too.

"They came here from cramped conditions in a council-house garden, and they were so overweight that Rodney went blind. The fat had literally closed up his eyes. But they are both working back to fitness now, with more space and a better diet."

Longdown's lively herd of goats and its over-confident ducks may prove a challenge to the trainee farmers, but they will have Jade the sheepdog to help them round up any strays.

There's no age limit for the Farmers' Days. "One granny has already booked her four grand-daughters in, and she says they can't wait to get down on the farm," said Bryan.

To book for a Farmer's Day, at £20 for children and £30 for adults, ring the activity farm on 023 8029 33 26.