Freshening Herdsmen

H2ajobs; Dalhart (TX); On-site; USD 17,000 - 21,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing provided

Meals provided

Transportation provided

Job summary

Northside in Texas seeks a Fresh Herdsman to manage fresh cows and calves through winter–spring. You will participate in milking, colostrum handling, calf care, and routine herd health tasks, with peak workload during freshening season.

Responsibilities include monitoring postpartum health, assisting with calving, recording treatments in DairyComp, and coordinating transfers with farm staff. Housing and employer-provided transport are available.

Qualifications

• Experience with dairy cows preferred.
• Ability to monitor cows for postpartum illness and assist calving.
• Record treatments and outcomes accurately in records.

Responsibilities

• Monitor fresh cows for postpartum illness and treat under supervision.
• Support calving surveillance and assist difficult births.
• Manage colostrum collection and neonatal feeding.
• Record calving outcomes and calf transfers in dairy software.
• Milking duties as part of routine milking rotation.
• Maintain biosecurity and proper loading for transfers.

Skills

Dairy Cow Handling

Milk Hygiene

Livestock Care

Calving Assistance

Job description

Northside uses a managed reproductive program that generates a predictable, calendar-driven surge in fresh cow and calf-related labor from Winter - Spring each year. The Freshening Herdsman will perform the following primary duties, including baseline milking responsibilities, with additional duties concentrated during the winter–spring freshening season.

Fresh Cow Management: monitoring cows in the fresh pen for post-partum illness including metritis, ketosis, displaced abomasum, and hypocalcemia; administering propylene glycol, calcium boluses, and IV fluids under veterinary supervision; recording treatments and outcomes in DairyComp; adjusting pen stocking and moving cows as health status changes.

Calving Surveillance and Assistance: maintaining continuous monitoring of close-up pen during peak calving months (December through February); assisting with dystocia and difficult presentations; tagging and recording newborn calves; cleaning and resetting calving area following each event; ensuring cow-calf separation per biosecurity protocol.

Colostrum Management: milking fresh cows to obtain first-milking colostrum; tube feeding or bottle-feeding neonatal

calves within the first 2 hours of birth; labeling, dating, and refrigerating or freezing surplus colostrum for subsequent calves.

Calf Transfer Preparation: processing each newborn calf for transport to DJF. Confirming colostrum intake, applying ear tag, completing individual calf health record, recording birth weight; coordinating transfer schedule and transport logistics with DJF staff; ensuring proper calf loading and biosecurity protocols are observed at transfer.

Dry Cow Pre-Fresh Transition: moving cows from far-off dry pen to close-up pen at appropriate pre-calving interval; monitoring close-up cows for signs of imminent calving and early metabolic disease; body condition

coring and reporting to herd manager.

Pregnancy Diagnosis Support: drafting and moving cows to the preg-check chute; restraining individual cows for veterinary ultrasound or rectal palpation; recording pregnancy outcomes in DairyComp; sorting open cows for re-enrollment in synchronization protocols.

Cull Cow Sorting and Documentation: identifying cows flagged for culling by herd manager; sorting culls from main herd;

completing producer statements, health certificates, and transport paperwork; loading culls for shipment in coordination with contracted haulers.

Milking: performing routine milking of assigned cows/pens as part of the farm's regular milking rotation, including udder preparation and sanitation, proper unit attachment and removal, monitoring for mastitis or abnormal milk, and adherence to milk quality and food-safety protocols.

DairyComp Record Entry: entering all fresh cow events, treatments, diagnoses, calving outcomes, and calf transfers into DairyComp on same-day basis to maintain herd record integrity required for DHIA reporting and milk quality compliance.

Housing: Employer-provided (including mobile or range)

Meals: Workers will have access to free and convenient cooking and kitchen facilities at the employer-provided

housing for the preparation of meals. The Employer will provide transportation at no cost to workers to a local grocery store on a regularly scheduled basis. The Employer will utilize a 12-passenger transport van and, when necessary, will make

multiple trips to accommodate all workers wishing to purchase groceries without exceeding the vehicle's designated seating capacity.

Transport: The Employer will coordinate, schedule and pay for bus transportation for H-2A workers traveling to the place of

employment at the beginning of the contract period and for workers returning to their place of recruitment or other applicable return destination upon completion of the work contract.

Experience wanted: 1 months

Justification for Lifting Requirement: The lifting requirement is necessary for the performance of the agricultural duties associated with this position. Workers are required to assist with farming activities that involve handling, moving, loading, and unloading equipment, tools, materials, and supplies. Certain items used in the normal course of the farming operation

may weigh up to 75 pounds. Therefore, workers must be physically capable of safely lifting and carrying up to 75 pounds as required to perform the essential duties of the position.