Animal Breeders
Select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring. May require knowledge of artificial insemination techniques and equipment use. May involve keeping records on heats, birth intervals, or pedigree.
- Median pay
- $51,130
- Doing it now
- 6,900
- By 2035
- Up 3%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
1,000 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches.
- Examine animals to detect symptoms of illness or injury.
- Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics.
- Treat minor injuries and ailments and contact veterinarians to obtain treatment for animals with serious illnesses or injuries.
- Observe animals in heat to detect approach of estrus and exercise animals to induce or hasten estrus, if necessary.
- Record animal characteristics such as weights, growth patterns, and diets.
- Build hutches, pens, and fenced yards.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Agricultural Production OperationsSee 68 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
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Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $51,130 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.