All careers

Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals

Attend to live farm, ranch, open range or aquacultural animals that may include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, horses and other equines, poultry, rabbits, finfish, shellfish, and bees. Attend to animals produced for animal products, such as meat, fur, skins, feathers, eggs, milk, and honey. Duties may include feeding, watering, herding, grazing, milking, castrating, branding, de-beaking, weighing, catching, and loading animals. May maintain records on animals; examine animals to detect diseases and injuries; assist in birth deliveries; and administer medications, vaccinations, or insecticides as appropriate. May clean and maintain animal housing areas. Includes workers who shear wool from sheep and collect eggs in hatcheries.

What you’d do

  • Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.
  • Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures.
  • Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.
  • Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.
  • Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos.
  • Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals.
  • Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition.
  • Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences.

Skills that matter

  • Critical Thinking
  • Monitoring
  • Active Listening
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Operation and Control
  • Operations Monitoring

How to get there

Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

Also called

  • Cowboy
  • Herdsman
  • Livestock Handler
  • Ranch Hand
  • Farm Hand
  • Farrowing Worker

Related careers

See all careers

  • Animal Breeders

    Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

    Manually plant, cultivate, and harvest vegetables, fruits, nuts, horticultural specialties, and field crops.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Agricultural Equipment Operators

    • Bright Outlook
    • Rapid Growth

    Drive and control equipment to support agricultural activities such as tilling soil; planting, cultivating, and harvesting crops; feeding…

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers

    • Bright Outlook
    • Rapid Growth

    Use hands or hand tools to perform routine cutting and trimming of meat, poultry, and seafood.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Slaughterers and Meat Packers

    Perform nonroutine or precision functions involving the preparation of large portions of meat.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one

  • Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products

    Grade, sort, or classify unprocessed food and other agricultural products by size, weight, color, or condition.

    Little to some preparation: usually a high school diploma or GED, though some jobs do not need one