Career profile for Animal Breeder

What does an Animal Breeder do?

Animal Breeders select and breed animals according to their genealogy, characteristics, and offspring.

In addition, Animal Breeders

may require knowledge of artificial insemination techniques and equipment use,
may involve keeping records on heats, birth intervals, or pedigree.

What kind of tasks does an Animal Breeder perform regularly?

Animal Breeders are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

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.
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.
Record animal characteristics such as weights, growth patterns, and diets.
Build hutches, pens, and fenced yards.
Brand, tattoo, or tag animals to allow animal identification.

The above responsibilities are specific to Animal Breeders. More generally, Animal Breeders are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events		Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Performing General Physical Activities		Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.
Handling and Moving Objects		Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.
Documenting/Recording Information		Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.

Performing General Physical Activities

Performing physical activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials.

Handling and Moving Objects

Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things.

Documenting/Recording Information

Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

What is an Animal Breeder salary?

The median salary for an Animal Breeder is $40,770, and the average salary is $43,930. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Animal Breeder salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Animal Breeders earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Animal Breeders earn less than $24,060 per year, 25% earn less than $30,500, 75% earn less than $54,530, and 90% earn less than $64,680.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Animal Breeders is expected to change by -2.4%, and there should be roughly 1,300 open positions for Animal Breeders every year.

Median annual salary: $40,770
Typical salary range: $24,060 - $64,680
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): -2.4%

What personality traits are common among Animal Breeders?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as an Animal Breeder are usually higher in their Realistic interests.

Animal Breeders typically have very strong Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as an Animal Breeder tend to value Independence, Working Conditions, and Achievement.

Most importantly, Animal Breeders moderately value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Second, Animal Breeders moderately value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Lastly, Animal Breeders moderately value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Animal Breeders must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, integrity, and attention to detail.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Animal Breeders, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Independence		Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.
Self-Control		Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Independence

Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done.

Self-Control

Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations.

What education and training do Animal Breeders need?

Working as an Animal Breeder usually requires a high school diploma.

Animal Breeders need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Animal Breeders

49.9% did not complete high school or secondary school
28.0% completed high school or secondary school
10.6% completed some college coursework
4.0% earned a Associate's degree
6.2% earned a Bachelor's degree
0.9% earned a Master's degree
0.3% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Animal Breeders

Animal Breeders may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as customer and personal service, sales and marketing, or administration and management knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Animal Breeders might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing		Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Biology		Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Mathematics		Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Sales and Marketing

Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Biology

Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

Mathematics

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Important Abilities needed by Animal Breeders

Animal Breeders must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Animal Breeders need abilities such as near vision, problem sensitivity, and deductive reasoning in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Animal Breeders, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Near Vision		The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Problem Sensitivity		The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Deductive Reasoning		The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Category Flexibility		The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Near Vision

The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Problem Sensitivity

The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Category Flexibility

The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Critical Skills needed by Animal Breeders

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Animal Breeders frequently use skills like critical thinking, active listening, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Animal Breeders, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Active Listening		Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Science		Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Active Learning		Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Science

Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.

Active Learning

Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Animal Breeder

Animal Breeder

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