Livestock Worker - Cow/calf

Work description

Job duties include operating and maintaining a variety of farm equipment such as, but not limited to, tractors, skid steers, loaders, and feeding machinery to support daily livestock and facility operations. Responsibilities involve assisting with all aspects of calving cows and bred heifers, including monitoring for signs of labor, providing support during delivery, and ensuring proper postnatal care. Workers will check the calving herd at regular intervals throughout the day and night, including in cold and wet weather, and will move cows and heifers showing signs of labor into calving pens or barns. Workers will assist with difficult births under supervision, including restraining the cow in a head catch or calving chute, applying obstetrical chains and calf pullers, and alerting the supervisor or veterinarian when veterinary intervention is needed. Newborn calves may need to be lifted and carried to safe or designated areas for treatment and care. Immediate newborn care includes clearing airways, drying and warming chilled calves (including use of warming boxes or heated areas), dipping navels in iodine, confirming the calf stands and nurses, and tube- or bottle-feeding colostrum or milk replacer to calves that will not nurse. Duties also include monitoring calf health and behavior and providing appropriate nutrition during the transition, identifying and reporting signs of scours, pneumonia, or other illness, administering oral or injectable medications and vaccinations as directed, and ear-tagging, weighing, and recording calves at birth. Workers will pair cows with calves, graft orphaned calves onto cows as needed, and separate and treat cows with retained placenta, prolapse, mastitis, or other postpartum problems as directed. Workers will feed hay, silage, and supplement to cows and heifers, maintain water sources and break ice in winter, bed calving pens and barns with straw or shavings, and clean and disinfect pens, hutches, feeding equipment, and calving tools. Workers will also maintain and repair fences, gates, and working facilities; sort, move, and load cattle on foot, horseback, or by ATV/UTV; and keep calving and treatment records as directed. Daily duties may vary depending on crop, weather, and field conditions. The employer reserves the right to increase workers' pay or provide bonuses based on tenure, performance, or other factors that are solely based on the discretion of the employer.