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Animal Breeders: Career Profile
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.
What Do Animal Breeders Perform?
Typical responsibilities of animal breeders include:
- Feed and water animals, and clean and disinfect pens, cages, yards, and hutches.
- Observe animals in heat to detect approach of estrus and exercise animals to induce or hasten estrus, if necessary.
- Treat minor injuries and ailments and contact veterinarians to obtain treatment for animals with serious illnesses or injuries.
- Purchase and stock supplies of feed and medicines.
- Select animals to be bred, and semen specimens to be used, according to knowledge of animals, genealogies, traits, and desired offspring characteristics.
- Examine animals to detect symptoms of illness or injury.
- Build hutches, pens, and fenced yards.
- Record animal characteristics such as weights, growth patterns, and diets.
Skills and Knowledge
Effective animal breeders draw on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Most Important Skills
The competencies most central to this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Top Knowledge Areas
Other Animal Breeders Job Titles
People in this occupation may also be known by titles such as:
- Animal Breeder
- Animal Husbandman
- Animal Husbandry Technician
- Animal Technician
- Artificial Insemination Technician (AI Technician)
- Artificial Inseminator
- Aviculturist
- Bee Breeder
How Many Animal Breeders Are There?
There are roughly 117,176 animal breeders working in the United States today. This occupation is expected to grow by +1.0% over the projection horizon.
Animal Breeders Pay
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $49,553 |
| Hourly median | $23.82 |
| 10th percentile | $31,279 |
| 25th percentile | $40,416 |
| 75th percentile | $58,691 |
| 90th percentile | $67,828 |
Pay can vary substantially based on experience, location, and industry.
Animal Breeders Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Ohio | $71,930 |
| California | $58,240 |
| New York | $50,440 |
| Minnesota | $48,670 |
| Idaho | $48,620 |
| Texas | $48,230 |
| Wisconsin | $45,840 |
| Kentucky | $45,730 |
| Alabama | $29,140 |
Pay by U.S. Region
Compensation for animal breeders vary by region. These regions lead on median pay:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Atlantic | $50,440 | 42.3% | 2.04 |
| Plains States | $48,670 | 7.7% | 1.34 |
| Southwest | $48,230 | 21.2% | 0.72 |
| Great Lakes | $45,840 | 13.5% | 2.18 |
| Southeast | $35,361 | 15.4% | 1.95 |
Highest-Paying Metro Areas for Animal Breeders
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA | CA | $58,240 | |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $58,180 | |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | NY | $50,440 | |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | CA | $49,440 |
Which Industries Hire Animal Breeders
The bulk of animal breeders work in these industries:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting | 810 | $48,670 |
| Other Services (except Public Administration) | 130 | $49,440 |
| Manufacturing | 120 | $50,240 |
| Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation | 30 | $38,820 |
Animal Breeders work in the following industries:
Tech Stack
- Document management software: Adobe Acrobat (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Creative Cloud software (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Illustrator (hot technology)
- Desktop publishing software: Adobe InDesign (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Microsoft Access (hot technology)
- Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel (hot technology)
- Office suite software: Microsoft Office software (hot technology)
- Electronic mail software: Microsoft Outlook (hot technology)
- Document management software: Microsoft SharePoint (hot technology)
- Operating system software: Microsoft Windows (hot technology)
- Word processing software: Microsoft Word (hot technology)
Work Environment
The on-the-job environment of animal breeders is shaped by the following characteristics:
- Freedom to Make Decisions
- Determine Tasks, Priorities and Goals
- Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions
- Consequence of Error
- Outdoors, Under Cover
Education and Training
Most animal breeders positions require a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Some Preparation Needed (Job Zone 2), signaling the level of preparation typically expected.
Similar Occupations
Similar Occupations
- Farmers, Ranchers, and Other Agricultural Managers (Primary-Short)
- Buyers and Purchasing Agents, Farm Products (Supplemental)
- Animal Scientists (Supplemental)
- Food Scientists and Technologists (Supplemental)
- Soil and Plant Scientists (Supplemental)
- Agricultural Technicians (Primary-Long)
- Veterinarians (Supplemental)
- Veterinary Technologists and Technicians (Primary-Long)
References
This profile draws on the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 45-2021.00 (Animal Breeders).
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