Range Sheepherder
Employer
1004 Blair Road
Whitewater, CO 81527
United States
Job description
Required to be available up to 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and spend the majority of workdays on the range. All job duties are closely and directly related to the production of sheep.
Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend sheep on the range: administer emergency minor medical care to sick/injured pregnant ewes using roping methods to gently immobilize animal without causing undue stress; administer medication as needed; apply medications to cuts and bruises; assist with docking; assist with gathering and sorting lambs for shipping; assist with loading trucks with lambs and/or ewes for transportation; attend to lambing ewes (including night checks); bed down flock at appropriate night site; brand, tag, clip or otherwise mark young animals for identification purposes; care for newly born offspring; detect direction from which the wind or prevailing storms are coming to keep ewes gathered and safe; ensure newly born lambs stand and nurse ; feed supplemental rations; feed, water and tend to the dogs (both guard and working dogs) and horses; guard against predators prevalent during the winter months using appropriate tracking, trapping, and hunting methods ; herd mature ewes and young offspring between grazing areas in a manner to assure body condition is maintained in mature ewes and growth of offspring; herd to appropriate grazing area; identify and administer appropriate medication for various health issues such as internal parasites, respiratory issues, injuries, etc.; identify ewes that are preparing to give birth; keep accurate record of new lambs born; lift and stack bales of hay and sacks of grain and mineral onto a feed truck or wagon; make certain animals have access to fresh water; mix and feed supplemental milk to bum lambs; monitor pregnant ewes for abortion/malnutrition/pregnancy toxemia and other pregnancy related conditions; monitor young lambs for diseases, thrift and weight gain; repair and/or maintain fence and facilities to ensure the safety and health of animals and forage; spray livestock with insecticide. Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend sheep on the ranch: administer emergency minor medical care to sick/injured pregnant ewes using roping methods to gently immobilize animal without causing undue stress; administer medication as needed; apply medications to cuts and bruises; assist in the maintenance of tools, equipment and handling facilities necessary to production; assist in the shearing of sheep by herding sheep into corrals and through the shearing plant; assist with castration of livestock; assist with docking; assist with loading trucks with lambs and/or ewes for transportation; assist with sorting and cutting of culls; assist with tagging sheep when the shearing crew needs it; assist with the vaccination of livestock by herding into corrals and/or stalls or manually restraining animals; attend to lambing ewes (including night checks); brand, tag, clip or otherwise mark young animals for identification purposes; ensure newly born lambs stand and nurse ; feed, water and tend to the dogs (both guard and working dogs) and horses; lift and stack bales of hay and sacks of grain and mineral onto a feed truck or wagon; mix and feed supplemental milk to bum lambs; move sheep to appropriate pens; repair and/or maintain fence and facilities to ensure the safety and health of animals and forage.
Special Requirements
Required to: perform tasks capably and efficiently without close supervision, spend the majority of work days on the range, live and work singly or in small groups of workers in isolated areas for extended periods of time, to ride, handle and tend horses in a manner to assure the safety and health of the worker, co-workers, horses, dogs and livestock, to operate equipment and machinery required to perform job duties indicated in a safe and responsible manner, attend animals during all hours of the day as required for their safety and well-being, maintain and manage remote housing locations in a safe and responsible manner, work with and around farm machinery such as tractors, UTVs and ATVs for supplemental feeding purposes and movement of livestock, handle animals using low stress handling methods, work with, repair and maintain both set field fence and temporary electric fence, work outdoors in all types of weather and may experience occasional exposure to hazards such as