Giving them a small enclosed space will keep the drafts away and help to keep them cozy. I think your plan sounds good. Hurry up, the temperatures are dropping!

--Johanna

2 different sized cardboard boxes, with the space between them about 2-4", and that stuffed with straw or the like, the both laid on their side with the upper flaps taped to hang down, and then with a few towels or old blanket pieces or sweaters inside the inner one, should work fine.

If you site it in a non-drafty area, it should be nice and warm, but if the barn in general is drafty, putting the boxes on a layer of straw or shavings to get it off the floor, and/or hanging a tarp, old blanket or sack over the boxes, hanging down over the entrance, so there is just enough room to squeeze in should be very sheltered. If you REALLY want to keep them warm, a space blanket under the towels, blanket, etc. should do the trick, or use a layer of aluminum foil, shiny side up, or a chunk of styrofoam insulation.

I would be a bit leery of using unsupervised electric warmers not meant for animals - they can malfunction and overheat - leading to burns on the animals if not to fires. There are specific warmers for animals, from dog beds to pig warmers, but since you implied you wanted to do this for little added money.... If you want to spend money, you can google for such - FarmTek.com has them, and their prices are usually very competitive, but the 13.5" x 36" baby pig mat (the smallest) is about $80, before S&H and any tax, so ....

I just thought - if you have an old styrofoam cooler, it should make a perfect cat bed for the cold. Either leave it sitting upright so they can hop down into it, or turn it on its side, add a few towels or old sweaters or blankets for bedding, and voila - they have a warm place to sleep!

I took an old computer box, taped it closed, and then cut a small cat-sized opening in the side. Then I took a couple of old quilts/blankets and put a couple in each box.

My barn is not drafty, and there are 3 mini-donks who help to warm it. It must be warm enough since I started with 2 female (fixed) barn cats in the Fall, and now have 4 cats in the barn.

They must have known it was supposed to get cold & windy since they were all in the barn last nite watching me clean stalls.

The one very resourceful female actually snuggles down between the hay bales when it's really cold. Scared the s**t out of me when she popped up one early morning when I was feeding the donks. LOL ...

If you can spend a little money on some straw bales you could make a small cubicle with some bales and fill the center with more straw. My barn cats curl up in the holes of my stacked hay and straw is a really good insulator.

The box would definitely be cheaper.

I did the box thing. I've got a couple PeaPod boxes and they're up off the floor, several old blankets draped over the back, sides, and front. Blankie inside too. There's really just a 4" slot for them to sqeeze through. This morning it was single digits when I went out to feed them and they didn't even come out to have breakfast. I stuck my hand it there, and, you know, it felt pretty toasty. Those little buggers throw off a lot of heat. Thanks for the suggestions. It's supposed to be well below zero tonight and tomorrow night (go Packers!).

Cranberry--

You're right about the cats putting out a lot of heat! I have one who sleeps under the covers next to me and sometimes I have to move him out because it's too warm!

Glad your kitties are toasty.

--Johanna

Your boxes or some space in a stack of bales will do the trick nicely. Some years ago, I built a cat house by making a square out of 4 bales, put some straw inside, then built a simple wood A- frame with a sloped, hinged window on the south to let the sun in. Put a piece of old plywood down in the bottom so that the straw area inside the bales and underneath the frame was separate, but had a hole the cats could crawl through. Gives them a nice, private straw nest and I feed them on top. In the winter, the sun warms the feeding area.

If your cats are outdoor cats, don't bring them in the house for very long as they can't take their winter coats off and will overheat, then may get chilled when they go back out. Same with indoor cats--they won't have a winter coat and will chill quickly outdoors in the winter.

I use a heavy styrofoam box with a door cut into it and carpet on the floor (which is actually the lid). The ventilation isn't the greatest, but it is definitely warm.