Gordon is doing well. He allows and seems to seek scratches on his head and back with a long handled back scratcher (thank you, Amazon). He lives in the barn in the hay mow. I have hay for the winter up there, all small squares neatly stacked. There are many cat-size gaps where Gordon can sleep. My question is, Does Gordon need a heated cat shelter in the barn? I worry that he’s cold. I think Gordon has always lived outside (big city feral removed for his own safety). I really don’t want to spend $$$ on a heated cat shelter for him, but if experts think that is necessary, I will. FYI I have 12 other feral cats who DO NOT live in the barn, but come from nearby out buildings that belong to my neighbors. I see the cats and the tracks --Gordon is in a good, safe place . . .so heated cat shelter or not? FYI Gordon is non-stop chatter --I couldn’t get a pix of him with his mouth shut.
Look at that great, big, head!!! 
Save your money.
My little (8#) barncat lived in the hay through Polar Vortex winters.
I had a fleece house for her, but 9 times out if 10, she’d come out from the stacked bales to greet me.
I did get the XL air-activated handwarmer packets & put one under a blanket in that house for her. She’d sleep in the house then.
These:
ETA:
Maybe it’s a Gray Tux Thing?
I have the Travel Size (8#) version of Gordon, but he’s a housecat. Meet Bounce:
Those Cheeeeks!!! 
. I Gordon.
And I’m sorry I do not live in the cold up north. When it gets really cold here even close to freezing or slightly below I just worry that they’re out of the wind and clustered inside something I guess it will depend on how very cold gets there. And how hard of a freeze you get me? Because I’m a big softy I would find a heat source for the cat.
He’s precious. I got a cozy cave bed with a self warming pad inside for my barn cats. So far they seem to love it. No electric but everywhere I’ve seen says straw and hay is the best insulators vs blankets.
He’s coming around! With some more time, I bet you won’t need the cat scratcher. 
Thanks for the update! Glad he’s doing well.
I bet he is cozy enough in the hay. However, if you wanted a low-cost option to add some warmth you could get a pet-safe heater pad like this:
and put it in a cardboard box for him - maybe throw a towel or blanket on top? I guess it depends on how cold it gets in your barn at night.
The car windshield protector thingies that look like foil over bubble wrap make great kitty bed insulators. They’re flexible enough to line boxes/hidey-holes and act kind of like a kitty space blanket. I used them as wallpaper/flooring for my outdoor shelters and put straw down on the floor. Before Sir Frank turned in his feral card and retired indoors, he stayed plenty cozy in his kitty cube through the polar vortex insanity few winters ago.
Plus they’re super cheap!
Car Windshield Sun Shade, Car Sun Visor for UV Rays and Sun Heat Protection, Car Interior Accessories for Sun Heat, Windshield Sun Shade for Car Auto Front Window Sunshade Visor Shieldss 130x60cm SIL https://a.co/d/i53wuNp
I’m in FL and when my porch kitty gets cold he has this:
Gordon is perfectly fine just the way you’ve set him up ~ no need to add a heated cat shelter ~
Gordon looks Great ! Love his “chatter” !
You could make him a “house” with a foam cooler. There are directions on a Google search for feral cat shelters by Community Cats. Pretty simple if you have some old styrofoam or plastic insulated coolers laying around. They do suggest layering hay or straw inside to keep it dry. Cat skin naturally gives off moisture, which you don’t want accumulating inside the shelter, hay layer let’s it evaporate best. They place these shelters outside, around town, for the ferals many folks feed. Our local group also helps with trapping, vaccinating and spaying/nuetering the ferals, then returning them to their original locations. This prevents cat populations from exploding, older cats fill the spaces to prevent new cats moving in. Those feeding ferals are quite attached to them but can’t bring them into their residences.
I am pretty serious about not using any electric corded items in the barn as fire preventive measures. So no heated buckets, cat water dishes or beds. The shelters are cheap, effective, electricity free. Not going to start a fire. Mid-Michigan here, where it can get DARNED cold during winter. I think even in a hay mow, the barn cat needs more than bales to stay warm enough in the deep and continued cold times. Shelter box/s hidden in the stacked bales will help the cat or cats hold their heat more effectively than spaces between the bales.
Nice to see Gordon settling in so nicely! And allowing pets!! Great work Foxglove!
He is adorable! My semi feral is also a talker…what is up with that?
Does he have liquid water for drinking? A heated bowl might be a better purchase than a bed. Cats are bad about drinking enough, but pretty good at being warm if they have cat sized caves to curl up in. Hay bale cave, or cardboard box, or? We do have a heated dog bed on our covered porch for the random area cats (or our own cats if the decide to stay out. We put a bench over it, and then covered with a blanket to make a cave - they seem to like it!
Did Gordon and Bounce escape from respective fancy dinner parties? They seem to be running around in formal attire, is why I wondered. Handsome kitties!
Don’t know anything about the need for a shelter, just wanted to say that Gordon is looking great! I love that he’s a talker. 
Bounce came from a hoarder, via a County shelter.
Maybe Gordon is his Dad?
Or vice versa, since Bounce is 9 
Maybe Separated at Birth Bros?
I’m with @CHT on the heated water.
My heated stall buckets are 20yo & I got a 2qt size one from TSC for my barncat that’s just as old, but no longer used since she died in 2015.
I guess I could plug it back in, as I get Driveby cats in the barn.
They’re welcome to hunt, but I don’t feed them.
With the hay pockets, I think he’s A-ok.
An advantage of Gordon sleeping in the hay mow is 24/7 mouse control.
Our barn cats all prefer hitting the hay in the stack. They have a little sliding window so they can stay in the tack room, where they are fed dinner, but prefer the stacks.
RE: the listed pet heat pad
Read the critical reviews on Amazon. NOT UL rated and several users had it melt. Fire hazard.
Oops well yeah no good for the barn then.
I use a similar (but different) heat pad outside for the ferals. I didn’t take the time to find the link for the product I’ve used successfully for years, I just grabbed the first result from an Amazon search as an example.
Yeah, I’ve tried to find a good safe warming waterproof heating pad for a while, so I understand not finding one easily. I think searching on rescue sites might be more successful, I think I saw one there once.
