shepherd
Shepherds manage the welfare and movement of livestock, especially sheep, goats and other grazing animals, in a variety of surroundings.
shepherd shepherds manage the welfare and movement of livestock, especially sheep, goats and other grazing animals, in a variety of surroundings. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include provide flock medical treatment, provide nutrition to animals, examine animals, move animals, ensure flock safety.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £35,295 a year for Farmers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 5111). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only shepherd, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 6. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Sales and Marketing
- Administration and Management
- Biology
- Mathematics
- Administrative
- Production and Processing
- English Language
What you'd actually do
- 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.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does shepherd do?
Shepherds manage the welfare and movement of livestock, especially sheep, goats and other grazing animals, in a variety of surroundings.
What skills does shepherd need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include provide flock medical treatment, provide nutrition to animals, examine animals, move animals, ensure flock safety, care for the flock. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace shepherd?
Our AI-durability model gives shepherd a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.