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Herd Assistant (4450 san simeon creek rd)
Stepladder Ranch & Creamery
4450 San Simeon Creek Rd
compensation:
$18-22+ based on experience
employment type:
part-time
experience level:
no experience required
job title:
Herd Assistant
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Job: Herd Assistant / Dairy Goat Milker
Description: Our small, family owned goat dairy is looking for a hard working individual to help us through the remainder of the 2026 milking season and into our 2027 kidding season. We are looking for someone who can commit from now through early summer 2027. Our busiest time of year is kidding season, which begins in late January/early February and continues through late April, followed by our milking season. If you love animals, enjoy working outdoors, and are looking for a job that is self-guided and dynamic, this could be the right fit for you. If you are interested, please email introducing yourself and include your resume and cover letter as well.
- ~20-30 hours per week guaranteed from now through mid-December.
- From approximately mid-December through the end of January/early February, dairy hours may decrease while our goats are dry and preparing for kidding season.
- Additional work opportunities may be available during December and January, including Cambria’s Christmas Market and other farm-related work, depending on operational needs.
- Hours will increase again as we enter kidding season in February and the 2027 milking season begins.
- $18-$22+ per hour DOE
- Shift hours are generally either morning or afternoon shifts; morning shifts generally begin at 7am, and afternoon shifts generally end at 7pm. Depending on employee preference and company needs, shifts can be between 4 hours or 8 hours. A mix of both morning and afternoon shifts should be expected.
There is potential for the right candidate to also join our team as a part time farmers market associate in addition to your other dairy duties. This would potentially expand your hours and the seasonality of the position as well as open up the opportunity for tips. Read more about these additional duties in our farmers market associate job posting.
Commitment: We are looking for someone who can commit from now through early Summer 2027, including our 2027 kidding season. Kidding season is our busiest and most important time of year, so availability and reliability from late February through April/May are especially important. Candidates should be comfortable with the seasonal nature of dairy work and understand that hours may temporarily decrease during the goats’ dry/maternity period from mid-December through late January/early February.
Requirements: The right candidate must love animals, have a positive attitude, be hard working and extremely reliable. They must be able to lift 75 pounds and be able to work both independently and as a team. They must be able to work early mornings and evenings and have reliable transportation. Due to the nature of animal husbandry we have a firm schedule and do not have the flexibility to offer time off during the kidding season once committed; any time off during this extremely busy period (February-May) must be negotiated during the interview. During the milking season we have a little more flexibility for shift coverage but there is a limit and we ask that whenever possible time off that spans for more than a couple days is taken during the off-season (December-early February).
Experience: No experience required. Animal handling / husbandry experience preferred. Must have a good attitude and be able to work hard with demonstrated efficiency.
Schedule: 4-8 hour shifts (morning, evening, weekend and holiday availability required). We may be able to work around school and secondary job schedules for the right candidate.
Duties include:
- Feeding animals (goats, livestock guardian dogs, pigs)
- Performing milking shifts as scheduled adhering to highest standards of hygiene and sanitation
- Safe and responsible use of chemicals for the sanitation and cleaning of the milking line and related equipment
- Monitoring herd health and communicate updates to manager
- Weekly deep clean of the milking parlor
- Ability to access email regularly to ensure you have the latest information before each shift worked
- Occasional bottle-feeding of goat kids
- Maintaining a high level of awareness to ensure herd health, personal safety, and product quality
- Helping the dairy management team with miscellaneous tasks as needed
- Great communication skills
- Cleaning/mucking pens, working in dusty environments
- Loading bales of hay in the back of an RTV
- Occasionally feed/care for other animals on the farm (pigs and cows)
About our farm: Stepladder Ranch & Creamery is a small farmstead goat dairy and creamery located in the hills of Cambria, California. We specialize in small-scale, handmade cheeses with milk from our pasture-raised herd of Lamancha goats. We also make artisan cow's milk and mixed milk cheeses using milk from a local herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. All the goat milk used to make our cheeses comes exclusively from our herd on the property.
Tags:
farm, ranch, livestock, goats, dairy, milking, animal care, herd, herd assistant, farm hand, ranch hand, agriculture, agricultural, livestock care, dairy goats, milker, farm worker, animal husbandry, Cambria, part-time
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