Fun & Games: The Grand Opening Of Sunny Britches Acres

FUN & GAMES You Can Bet The Farm The Whole Family Will Enjoy A Visit To Sunny Britches Acres

By Julianna Bonnett

Farmer and CEO of Essex County Hatchery, Nicole Winkels, has hatched a second business, this time in the agritourism division.

The goal of her new biz — Sunny Britches Acres — is to provide a real-life farm experience for families and children.

For over three years, after renting a barn outside Essex for her chickens, Winkels had wanted a farm of her own so she put together a business plan to make her dream a reality.

“In April 2021, we (along with her husband and three children) sold our property in Woodslee and moved to the farm that we currently occupy in Cottam so we could expand our business and add on some larger livestock,” she explains. “After moving here we had so many friends express how much fun it was to bring their kids to visit the farm. So, in September 2021, we opened up for private tours, which booked up extremely fast. This brought me to an unexpected niche market as there is nothing really farm-related for kids to do in Essex County. We named the farm Sunny Britches Acres because we wanted to incorporate the amazing sunrises and sunsets we get here.”

The britches part of the name comes from the couple’s three kids who love wearing overalls!

“Over this past winter, we have rebranded our farm to focus on farm tours under the name Sunny Britches Acres and providing a way for kids and families to experience a real farm, with animals that are raised and loved here,” Winkels informs Biz X. “In summer 2022, we’ll be offering overnight farm stays in our cabin, which can be booked on Airbnb and families can experience a day on the farm. We also offer birthday parties for kids, which have already been booked into August.”

Located on 257 Road 10 in Cottam, the farm also features small event packages and even photographer rentals (the photo barn can accommodate large groups and wedding parties and props like a vintage tractor are available to be rented too).

Through Essex County Hatchery (open since 2019) they also sell farm-fresh eggs and pastured meats — such as chicken, turkey, duck and goose. In the spring, they also hatch and sell chicks and ducklings to local customers.

As an active entrepreneur for the last 12 years, Winkels has been involved in a variety of different business ventures including home staging, antique dealing, and maternity/newborn photography.

“I was trained as a pharmacy technician, which I worked at while running my own businesses on the side, until 2018, when I quit my pharmacy job so I could work on my photography business full time,” she shares. “In 2019 after my 19-year-old brother’s death, we started looking at a change for our family. We wanted to move away from the city, so we renovated our war-time home in Windsor and in 2020 bought our rural property in Woodslee. After buying our Woodslee property, the photography business slowed down due to the pandemic, and everyone started wanting to buy chickens.”

So the move to Cottam in 2021 was made and Sunny Britches Acres was born!

“This spring is going to be our busy season, we have pastures to plant and fencing to install so we can move our larger animals into pasture for the nicer weather,” she says. “We also have plans to plant a pumpkin patch, sunflower field, and butterfly meadow for people to walk through and for photographers to rent for photo shoots.”

A grand opening celebration for Sunny Britches Acres is scheduled on Saturday

April 16 and Monday April 18 from

10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with plenty of familyfriendly activities planned, like feeding and petting the animals, Easter egg hunts, scavenger hunts, and shopping at local food vendors on site. Keep up to date with the latest event details on their social media pages.

For more information on both companies check out: EssexCountyHatchery.com and: SunnyBritches.com.

Essex County Hatchery and Sunny Britches Acres Owner Nicole Winkels — holding Bill, a Royal Palm Turkey — has many reasons to be smiling from ear to ear. Her business is now growing to include overnight farm stays, farm tours, birthday party/small event hosting, and photography site rentals. Photo by Julianna Bonnett.