Fall Lamber and Stocker Backgrounder
Employer: Kettle Mills Livestock Co LLC
Location: Columbia, TN
Workers needed: 4
Pay: $13.15/hour
Season: Nov 1, 2026 – Mar 15, 2027
Experience: 2 months
Employer-provided housing; Transportation provided/reimbursed
The job
Primary duties include caring for ewes and lambs during fall lambing season and managing the backgrounding of stocker cattle and lambs during the winter purchasing season. The position involves daily livestock care, feeding, watering, livestock health, and preparation for winter conditions.
Primary Duties
Fall Lambing:
• Care for ewes and lambs during fall lambing, including pre-lambing preparation, assisting with births, identifying animals in distress, and ensuring proper bonding and nutrition of newborn lambs.
• Administer vaccinations and nutritional supplements as directed and assist with routine flock health care.
• Tag lambs and monitor ewes and lambs for illness, injury, or other health concerns.
• Maintain clean and secure lambing areas and provide feed and water as needed.
Stocker Backgrounding and Winter Livestock Care:
• Receive, inventory, and background stocker cattle and lambs.
• Assist with finishing and weighing lambs for the late-winter market.
• Sort, load, and move sheep and cattle between designated pastures, livestock areas, or for market
• Monitor livestock during weaning and assist with routine livestock health protocols.
• Supplement grazing with feed as required while the grass is dormant.
• Mend, relocate, and tend to fences as required
• Move and maintain portable electric fencing to manage livestock and forage.
• Provide supplemental feed and water; maintain water troughs and water lines and prevent freezing during winter.
• Prepare for and safely manage winter snow and ice events.
• Drench livestock and administer medications, vaccines, and insecticides as directed.
• Assist with tractor operations related to feeding, livestock care, forage production, and vegetation management.
• Manage sheep and cattle sharing the same pastures
• Feed, water, and assist with routine health care of livestock guardian dogs.
General Duties:
• Use company-provided phones and apps to record livestock performance, movement, health, and forage inventory.
• Maintain fencing and livestock facilities and perform minor repairs, mechanical work, welding, and general ranch maintenance.
• Safely operate 4-wheelers, tractors, and other ranch equipment in support of livestock care.
• Perform routine equipment checks and minor maintenance.
Housing: Employer-provided (including mobile or range)
Meals: The employer will furnish free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities so workers may prepare their own meals. Employer will provide (on a voluntary basis) transportation to assure workers access to stores where they can purchase groceries and/or other incidentals.
If free and convenient kitchen facilities become unavailable for any reason, the employer will provide three (3) meals a day for which it will charge individual workers, by payroll deduction, no more than the daily permitted amount as provided in 20 CFR 655.173, which was $16.78 as of April 7, 2026, and which may be increased during the period of this employment.
Transport: Employer will either arrange for inbound and outbound transportation via a charter bus service for the worker, or if the worker prefers to arrange their own transportation, Employer will reimburse the worker at no less than the most economical and reasonable common carrier transportation charges for the distances involved as well as for the related daily subsistence costs while the worker is traveling. Please see Work Term 1 of 12 for more detailed Inbound/Outbound Transportation arrangements.
Experience wanted: 2 months
Two (2) months of experience in livestock production involving the care of young animals, assessing livestock for signs of illness or injury, and administering vaccinations and medications to livestock. A US equivalent drivers license is required. The worker must be able to lift and carry 75 pounds.
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