Skip to content

← Occupation guides

45-2093.00 · Task explorer

Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

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.

Use the skill profile to plan your next practice →

Read the task inventory

This source lists 19 tasks, including 10 marked Core and 9 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2019.

Find a task in this inventory

19 tasks shown

Core · Task 13410 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13419 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13412 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13413 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13418 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13411 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13424 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13415 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13416 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Core · Task 13417 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13414 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Mix feed, additives, and medicines in prescribed portions.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13420 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Shift animals between grazing areas to ensure that they have sufficient access to food.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13430 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13421 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Order food for animals, and arrange for its delivery.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13422 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Perform duties related to livestock reproduction, such as breeding animals within appropriate timeframes, performing artificial inseminations, and helping with animal births.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13425 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Patrol grazing lands on horseback or using all-terrain vehicles.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13426 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Maintain growth, feeding, production, and cost records.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13427 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Groom, clip, trim, or castrate animals, dock ears and tails, or shear coats to collect hair.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Supplemental · Task 13428 · 08/2019 · Incumbent

Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals.

Add to my exploration shortlist

My example, evidence or question

Make the shortlist useful

Choose one to three activities that tell you something different about the work. Avoid selecting several ways of describing the same interest.
For each, write an example you can discuss or a question that would change your understanding of the role.
Keep source task IDs with your notes so you can return to the same description. Do not include private employer or customer information.

The exported worksheet distinguishes the reported task from your own notes. It supports exploration, not a hiring decision or a validated assessment.

Keep your worksheet

Download before leaving this page. Unsaved writing remains only in the page and is cleared on refresh. Notes and learning actions are not sent to a server. This guide describes an occupation and supports study planning; it does not provide clinical, legal or equipment-operating procedures.

Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.