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Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

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.

Related: Agricultural Equipment Operators Animal Breeders Farmworkers & Laborers, Crop, Nursery, & Greenhouse Meat, Poultry, & Fish Cutters & Trimmers Slaughterers & Meat Packers

Industries: Farming, Forestry, Fishing, & Hunting

Summary
Details

Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.
Groom, clip, trim, or castrate animals, dock ears and tails, or shear coats to collect hair.
Shift animals between grazing areas to ensure that they have sufficient access to food.
Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals.
Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.
Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures.
Order food for animals, and arrange for its delivery.
Perform duties related to livestock reproduction, such as breeding animals within appropriate timeframes, performing artificial inseminations, and helping with animal births.
Patrol grazing lands on horseback or using all-terrain vehicles.
Maintain growth, feeding, production, and cost records.
Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos.
Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.
Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition.
Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps.
Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs.
Mix feed, additives, and medicines in prescribed portions.
Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts.
Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals.
Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences.

Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.

Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Education

No formal educational credential

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

Less than 1 month on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

43540/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

20.93/hr

Currently Employed

6,050

Yearly Projected Openings

920

Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They do well at jobs that need:

Dependability
Independence
Adaptability/Flexibility
Attention to Detail
Integrity
Initiative

Agricultural tractors
All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
Animal husbandry equipment
Animal shearing or clipping equipment
Animal watering machines
Animal weighing scales
Backhoes
Blood collection syringes
Bridles
Claw hammer
Conveyor screw
Desktop computers
Egg inspection or collecting equipment
Feed mixers
Fog or mist generators
Grease guns
Hand sprayers
Hand trucks or accessories
Incubators or brooders for poultry
Light trucks or sport utility vehicles
Livestock identification equipment
Livestock trailers
Milking machines
Nebulizers
Notebook computers
Post hole digger
Power drills
Power saws
Respirators
Saddles
Shovels
Skid steer loaders
Snowplow attachments
Veterinary castration instruments
Veterinary injection or suction unit
Veterinary nail trimmers or cutters

Data base user interface and query software
Internet browser software
Office suite software
Spreadsheet software
Word processing software

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Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals

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