Will “Shepherd” be Automated?

Core Skills & Abilities

• Protect herds from predators, using trained dogs.

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

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

• Maintain growth, feeding, production, and cost records.

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

• Order food for animals, and arrange for its delivery.

• Feed and water livestock and monitor food and water supplies.

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

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

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

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

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

• Mix feed, additives, and medicines in prescribed portions.

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

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

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

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

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

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