The Duchess of Cambridge proved to be quite the farm hand as she joined a group of schoolchildren at an inner-city farm on Wednesday (3 May).

The mother-of-two was visiting a Farms For City Children's project in Gloucestershire when she revealed to the children that she has her own collection of farmyard animals at her Norfolk home, including five chickens.

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Edison David, head teacher at Vauxhall Primary School, said the down-to-earth royal even helped moving along the pigs.

"She was pushing the pig's bum with her bare hands," he said. "It was just to move the pig along. It was second nature to her. "

John Goodman, farm manager, added: "Some people are very aloof with pigs. I didn't know if she was one. But she was very natural, she blended in very quickly."

The Duchess had dressed down for her day on the farm wearing a pair of skinny jeans from Zara and a pair of tasseled boots.

And stockman Dave Evansoneya, 50, revealed Kate's not afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to cleaning out the chicken sheds, either.

"She has got several Cuckoo Marans at home, she told me. She says she has cleaned out a few chicken sheds in her time," he told Mail Online.

"She also told me and the children that she has an incubator of eggs at home at the moment with a hope that they are going to hatch into chicks. Her children are very excited."

Rehanna, ten, a pupil at Vauxhall Primary School, revealed the Duchess has quite the menagerie of animals at her home: "She said she had lots of animals at home, a dog, a hamster, a lamb and her chickens. She told us about her chickens and the sounds they made and said they were quite noisy."

Teacher Nicole Preston said the Duchess shared her children's excitement at the soon-to-hatch chicks. "The incubator is relatively new and she doesn't know if it is going to work. She says it takes 21 days but George and Charlotte are so excited that they come down each morning and peer inside to see if anything has happened!"

After spending the afternoon planting onion and marigold seeds on the farm, the Duchess and the children were treated to a story from children's author Michael Morpurgo and his wife, Clare, to learn more about the charity Farms for City Children, which they founded in 1976.

The organisation now has three working farms where it welcomes around 3,200 children and 400 teachers a year. They participate in week-long immersion programmes to help pupils gain an understanding of farming, the countryside and food production, while encouraging social and emotional development through teamwork.

Kate Middleton