Dairy Goat Milker and Herd Assistant

Do you love animals? Want to work outside with a lovely herd of dairy goats? We want your help!
Job: Dairy Goat Milker
Description: Our small, family owned goat dairy is looking for a hard working individual to help us during our kidding and milking seasons. Kidding lasts from late February through April and our milking season runs from March through November. We will be milking our friendly and adorable herd of Lamancha goats twice a day and are expecting over 100 kids. If you love animals, working outdoors and are looking for a job that is self-guided and dynamic, this could be the right fit for you.

-20-30 hrs/week depending on the season and employee preference. Potential for additional hours to be discussed during the interview process (more info below).
-$18-$22+ per hour DOE
-Shift hours are generally either morning or afternoon shifts; morning shifts generally begin at 7am, and afternoon shifts generally end at 7pm. Depending on employee preference and company needs, shifts can be between 4 hours or 8 hours. A mix of both morning and afternoon shifts should be expected.
-There is potential for the right candidate to also join our team as a part time farmers market associate in addition to your other dairy duties. This would potentially expand your hours and the seasonality of the position as well as open up the opportunity for tips. Read more about these additional duties in our farmers market associate job posting.
-Commitment: Mid-February through November 2026. Potential for the right candidate to stay on through winter.

Requirements: The right candidate must love animals, have a positive attitude, be hard working and extremely reliable. They must be able to lift 75 pounds and be able to work both independently and as a team. They must be able to work early mornings and evenings and have reliable transportation. Due to the nature of animal husbandry we have a firm schedule and do not have the flexibility to offer time off during the kidding season once committed; any time off during this extremely busy period (February-May) must be negotiated during the interview. During the milking season we have a little more flexibility for shift coverage but there is a limit and we ask that whenever possible time off that spans for more than a couple days is taken during the off-season (December-early February).

Experience: No experience required. Animal handling / husbandry experience preferred. Must have a good attitude and be able to work hard with demonstrated efficiency.

Schedule: 4-8 hour shifts (morning, evening, weekend and holiday availability required). We may be able to work around school and secondary job schedules for the right candidate.

Duties include:


Feeding animals (goats, livestock guardian dogs, pigs)
Performing milking shifts as scheduled adhering to highest standards of hygiene and sanitation
Safe and responsible use of chemicals for the sanitation and cleaning of the milking line and related equipment
Monitoring herd health and communicate updates to manager
Weekly deep clean of the milking parlor
Ability to access email regularly to ensure you have the latest information before each shift worked
Occasional bottle-feeding of goat kids
Maintaining a high level of awareness to ensure herd health, personal safety, and product quality
Helping the dairy management team with miscellaneous tasks as needed
Great communication skills
Cleaning/mucking pens, working in dusty environments
Loading bales of hay in the back of an RTV
Occasionally feed/care for other animals on the farm (pigs and cows)



About our farm: Stepladder Ranch & Creamery is a small farmstead goat dairy and creamery located in the hills of Cambria, California. We specialize in small-scale, handmade cheeses with milk from our pasture-raised herd of Lamancha goats. We also make artisan cow's milk and mixed milk cheeses using milk from a local herd of Holstein and Jersey cows. All the goat milk used to make our cheeses comes exclusively from our herd on the property.


If you are interested in this position, please reach out via email with your resume and cover letter. Thank you!