According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies. | 89% |
| Herd livestock to pastures for grazing or to scales, trucks, or other enclosures. | 88% |
| Examine animals to detect illness, injury, or disease, and to check physical characteristics, such as rate of weight gain. | 85% |
| Provide medical treatment, such as administering medications and vaccinations, or arrange for veterinarians to provide more extensive treatment. | 84% |
| Mix feed, additives, and medicines in prescribed portions. | 83% |
| Shift animals between grazing areas to ensure that they have sufficient access to food. | 83% |
| Mark livestock to identify ownership and grade, using brands, tags, paint, or tattoos. | 82% |
| Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs. | 82% |
| Order food for animals, and arrange for its delivery. | 81% |
| Perform duties related to livestock reproduction, such as breeding animals within appropriate timeframes, performing artificial inseminations, and helping with animal births. | 81% |
| Patrol grazing lands on horseback or using all-terrain vehicles. | 81% |
| Segregate animals according to weight, age, color, and physical condition. | 80% |
| Inspect, maintain, and repair equipment, machinery, buildings, pens, yards, and fences. | 80% |
| Drive trucks, tractors, and other equipment to distribute feed to animals. | 80% |
| Collect, inspect, and place eggs in incubators, operate machines for egg washing, candling, and grading, and pack eggs in cartons. | 80% |
| Move equipment, poultry, or livestock from one location to another, manually or using trucks or carts. | 79% |
| Maintain growth, feeding, production, and cost records. | 77% |
| Clean stalls, pens, and equipment, using disinfectant solutions, brushes, shovels, water hoses, or pumps. | 76% |
| Groom, clip, trim, or castrate animals, dock ears and tails, or shear coats to collect hair. | 75% |
| Spray livestock with disinfectants and insecticides, or dip or bathe animals. | 75% |
| Trim and shear poultry beaks, toes, and wings using debeaking machines, heated hand shears, or hot wires. | 71% |
| Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines. | 66% |
