Range Goat/sheepherder
Employer
1215 Garcia Ranch Road
Briones, CA 94553
United States
Job description
Required to be available 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 goats and sheep. Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend to livestock on the range: administer medication as needed; assist in the shearing of sheep by herding sheep into corrals and through the shearing plant; assist with docking; assist with gathering and sorting lambs for shipping; assist with irrigating forage; assist with loading and unloading livestock according to shipping schedules; assist with semen testing breeding males; assist with sorting and cutting of culls; assist with supplemental feeding (when weather or quality of forage precludes use of range forage); assist with tagging sheep when the shearing crew needs it; assist with weed control on grazing areas (including noxious, invasive and poisonous plant species); bed down animals at appropriate night site; build and/or maintain fence and facilities to ensure the safety and health of animals and forage; feed and water and ensure adequate provision of both; feed supplemental rations to sheep and goats when available forage is not sufficient to increase the plane of nutrition; feed, water and tend to the dogs (both guard and working dogs) and horses; guard against predatory animals and from eating poisonous and/or noxious plants; herd to appropriate grazing area; identify and administer appropriate medication for various health issues such as internal parasites, respiratory issues, injuries, etc.; monitor animals for weight gain, thrift and health problems; monitor grazing areas for poisonous and/or noxious plants and take action to prevent animals from consuming any identified; move livestock to appropriate grazing areas to avoid undue stress on livestock; report to rancher dehydration & other indicators of deterioration in body condition/behavioral changes indicating malnutrition; round up strays using dogs and/or fence. Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend to livestock at the ranch: administer medication as needed; 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 irrigating forage; assist with semen testing breeding males; 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 ; build and/or maintain fence and facilities to ensure the safety and health of animals and forage; feed and water and ensure adequate provision of both; feed supplemental rations to sheep and goats when available forage is not sufficient to increase the plane of nutrition; feed, water and tend to the dogs (both guard and working dogs) and horses; guard against predatory animals and from eating poisonous and/or noxious plants; identify and administer appropriate medication for various health issues such as internal parasites, respiratory issues, injuries, etc.; monitor animals for weight gain, thrift and health problems; monitor grazing areas for poisonous and/or noxious plants and take action to prevent animals from consuming any identified; move animals to appropriate pens; move livestock to appropriate grazing areas to avoid undue stress on livestock.
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 and livestock, to operate equipment and machinery required to perform job duties indicated in a safe and responsible manner, to maintain equipment and machinery to a standard established by the employer, work outdoors in all types of weather and may experience occasional exposure to hazards such as poisonous snakes, biting insects and extreme temperature, 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 for supplemental feeding purposes and ATVs for movement of livestock.