shelter for my feral friends

I took and old kitchen cabinet and made a nice warm and cozy shelter for my feral cats they where using it in less than hour after I put it up

I hope they are ok for winter

Thats a great idea. I would put a layer of straw on the bottom to help in keeping them warm.

I thought about putting hay down anyone know where I can get it  in the new haven ct area

snow, one of my ferrals

Don't use hay - it still has green matter and will mold.  Straw is basically dead grass and won't mold.  If you have a Tractor Supply, they usually have straw.  Feed stores and some farmer's markets have it too.  Hobby Lobby has small packets (for decorating) and that gets pricy.  I pay around $7 for a full bale here in southern NJ.  I think the Hobby Lobby stuff is $12 for about 1/8 the amount as a bale.  But if that's all you need, it may be worth not having to store the excess.

Snow is gorgeous!

Aw... what a beauty! Yes, it is straw and not hay your looking for. It will help retain their body heat and not get moldy. Another thing that may help is placing styrofoam sheets on the inside walls.

I saw a post on pinterest explaining how you could make one of those with styrofoam or straw. I'm planning on using styrofoam that I have from previous packing materials and old coolers.

You can also get extra fancy like we did & get special outdoor cat heating pads that stay at a temperature barely above a cat's body temp-it keeps them extra warm & comfy. I put it just slightly under the straw on the floor of the shelter. We also lean a sheet of plexiglass angled against the entrance to their shelter-it blocks wind, snow & rain, they can crawl under it easily to come & go, plus they can see what's going on outside the shelter but still feel safely "blocked in".

I also set our shelters on bricks so they're not directly on cold/wet ground--& has added benefit of keeping entrance raised if there's an inch or two of snow.

You can also put Mylar reflecting blankets (think they come in a cheap multi/pack at amazon). They reflect body heat---& you can tack the styrofoam to the sides if the cabinets & then add the mylar over it in the interior to reflect back some of the body heat.

And I'll reiterate what others said -definitely straw NOT hay as it holds moisture, gets mildewy, & can actually make the cat(s) colder if its wet. Same with blankets, etc-bad idea because of the moisture-it basically wicks away any warmth that exists.

Good luck! And have you thought of an outdoor-rated heated water bowl so that it won't freeze over( they really need that! Like the outdoor cat heating pad & Mylar-they can be gotten at Anazon or a site called cozy winters.com. (Well, don't think Mylar can be gotten at cozy winters

Hope that helped! Keep us posted