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@Club cramahe coop , where are you located? There's cold, and then there's VERY cold, and I guess it will be interesting to see how your plan works out. Mary

That's the cost of a pretty good hydrant, not including the rented trencher or the plastic pipe to it. But then, no cost for electricity, and no chance that something could go wrong with that power cord on the ground... The insurance inspector wouldn't like that at all. Mary

I guess I can't imagine running 159 ft. of hose in heat tape off a hydrant. $$$? Mary

Yes, all below the frost line so they don't freeze. The hydrants are called 'all weather hydrants' they are attached to the water line below the frost line, so four ft. deep here. Mary

@aart , one hand holding the fence so I'm not falling down on the ice, so one hand available for the water. But not any more! Hydrants are so worth it! We have four, one for each pasture, and one for the chicken coop. Mary

Last winter we had 48, including many bantams, This winter we'll have 36 to 38, a more reasonable number. One gallon daily ain't enough! In summer we ran a garden hose from the nearest hydrant, and it was fine. In winter it's a 150 ft. walk, and was a pain. Mary

Here in southern Michigan, it's not like Montana, but it's still frozen for months in winter. Years of carrying water on ice and through snow got very old (and so did we!) and so the hydrants are the answer. Mary

We have a plastic 150 gal. water tank we bought the year our well was out for a week, and it did the job. Not fun though, and that was in summer. Mary

I'd highly recommend having a water line run out there with a frost free hydrant! It's not impossible to do it yourself with a rented trencher, and hydrants are available at the farm stores. Repurchasing water tanks and all that isn't fun either, so consider it. Mary