Winter Range Livestock Herder
Employer
1775 12 Road
Loma, CO 81524
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 livestock.
Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend to livestock on the range during the winter season: administer emergency minor medical care to sick/injured pregnant animals using roping methods to gently immobilize animal without causing undue stress; administer medication as needed; assist with hauling water when winter and drought conditions eliminate natural sources of water for livestock; assist with irrigating forage; assist with sorting and cutting of culls; assist with supplemental feeding (when weather or quality of forage precludes use of range forage); assist with weed control on grazing areas (including noxious, invasive and poisonous plant species); attend to pregnant livestock and newborn offspring (including night checks); bed down animals at appropriate night site; brand, tag, clip or otherwise mark young animals for identification purposes; break ice over frozen water sources; build and/or maintain fence and facilities to ensure the safety and health of animals and forage; detect direction from which the wind or prevailing storms are coming to keep livestock gathered and safe; detect through winter tracking methods where other rancher(s)' livestock has been to avoid overgrazing of forage; feed and water and ensure adequate provision of both; 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 ; guard against predatory animals and from eating poisonous and/or noxious plants; herd livestock to appropriate grazing areas using winter trailing methods to avoid undue stress; herd to appropriate grazing area; intensely monitor and treat both mother and young vulnerable to the colder temperatures and sickness; maintain and set up supply wagon in appropriate direction to provide wind break/shelter/protection for horses & dogs; make certain animals have access to fresh water; make sufficient water from snow for horses/dogs at camp; move pregnant livestock at a pace sufficient to ensure they receive ample water/forage during daylight hours before bedding down at night; operate camp stove appropriately to provide/conserve heat in extreme cold/high winds; properly hobble camp horses; properly use/store food supplies for herder/horses/dogs; report to rancher dehydration & other indicators of deterioration in body condition/behavioral changes indicating malnutrition; report to rancher on water/forage/weather conditions; round up strays using dogs and/or fence; use proper animal husbandry skill to prevent hypothermia/abortion/death.
Perform any combination of the following tasks to attend to livestock on the ranch during the winter season: administer emergency minor medical care to sick/injured pregnant animals using roping methods to gently immobilize animal without causing undue stress; administer medication as needed; assist in the maintenance of tools, equipment and handling facilities necessary to production; assist with hauling water when winter and drought conditions eliminate natural sources of water for livestock; assist with irrigating forage; assist with sorting and cutting of culls; attend to pregnant livestock and newborn offspring (including night checks); brand, tag, clip or otherwise mark young animals for identification purposes; break ice over frozen water sources; 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, 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; intensely monitor and treat both mother and young vulnerable to the colder
Special Requirements
Required to: spend the majority of work days on the range, spray pastures and/or fence lines for poisonous plants and/or noxious weeds with herbicides to prevent livestock from consuming them, Assist with fire suppression and control to protect livestock and forage in the event that wildfires arise, perform tasks capably and efficiently without close supervision, 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, 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