- Full Time:
- No
- Number of Workers Requested:
- 8
- Job Duties:
- Must have 3 months experience birthing ewes with flocks of 600 head or larger. Working experience with 800-1000 head is preferred. Driver’s license is preferred. One reference required.
Must be able to perform the following seasonal duties at the direction of the employer:
Move pregnant ewes to birthing fields and pastures. Identify and sort heavy pregnant ewes from late pregnant ewes and separate groups accordingly, with the help of the supervisor. Be able to Identify animals for signs/symptoms of potential labor complications associated with the pregnancy and delivery process. Assist appropriately with difficult births to include, but not limited to, constraining animals as necessary and assisting in lamb delivery, grafting orphans or multiples to ensure optimal nutrition and survival rates. Examine and identify animals for signs of illness particularly related to gestation/delivery and administer vaccines, medications, nutritive supplements according to instructions. Help with unloading of mothers and babies and ensure lambs are with correct ewe and nursing effectively. Assist newborns with suckling the mother ewe or grafting onto a new ewe. Maintain clean lambing pens, feed and water sheep during the lambing period. May assist in tagging, vaccinating, worming and castration and docking of sheep. Ability to move family groups into field and watch for signs of lambs losing their mothers and assist with their relocation to reunite with the mother ewe. Able to identify health issues including but not limited to malnutrition of ewes, fever, pneumonia, foot rot, prolapse and mastitis. Ability to safely and humanely catch ewes and lambs with a hook.
Ability to Incidentally construct, deconstruct and maintain temporary and mobile fencing systems to allow for the efficient and effective grazing of lambing ewes during the lambing season, to ensure ample, sufficient and proper pasture nutrition for the sheep is always provided, thereby constantly achieving the highest animal welfare standard possible. Animal welfare is our highest priority and main objective - constructing, deconstructing and maintaining fencing systems for the sheep is paramount to achieving that objective. Provides water to sheep, including mild maintenance of water systems. Assists with branding, castrating, docking, shearing/tagging. Manages sheep on the range to reduce overcrowding and to increase maternal/offspring bonding. Protects vulnerable sheep from predators by managing and feeding LGD (Livestock Guardian Dogs). Protects sheep from eating noxious vegetation.
Occasionally, driver will pick up mothers and babies from one lambing location and safely deliver another for mothering up period. May need to haul and disburse water and/or supplemental feed with truck and trailer. Will include minor maintenance of water troughs and water lines. Assist with loading and unloading of sheep in trailers. May assist in moving sheep from one location to another with truck and trailer or moving herder trailer to new location.
Some work/tasks may occur off the range, but more than 51% of work will be performed on the range. Western Range Association and its member ranches facilitate practices of good animal husbandry. Employees that are found abusing, neglecting or abandoning animals entrusted to their care may be terminated for cause. If the negligent/abusive actions of an employee result in the loss/death of animals or cause harm to another person, the employee may be held accountable for these actions.
The worker will live in the employer provided range housing. Said housing will be clean and in good repair at the time it is provided to the employee. The employee is responsible to maintain the housing unit in a reasonable level of cleanliness in order to avoid flies, mice or other vermin. The employee is responsible to alert the employer of damage to the housing unit within a reasonable amount of time. The employee may be held accounta
- Job Classification:
- 45-2093.00 - Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals