Fur Farmer

Fur Farmers breed, raise, and care for fur-bearing animals until they’re old enough to slaughter. Then the pelts are collected and sold to the companies and individuals who will use them. Not for the squeamish, this job entails some of the most challenging duties a person can take on.

Animals raised for their fur are kept in cages apart from other animals to avoid fighting, which would damage their fur. As a Fur Farmer, you’re responsible for tending to the animals in their cages, including feeding, watering, cleaning waste, and making sure that the animals remain healthy until maturity. Once the animals have reached optimum age, you kill them, often by electrocution or lethal injection.

Depending on the facility, certain exceptional specimens may be chosen for breeding and thus spared. Once the animals are killed, you skin them, usually assisted by any number of support employees.

A Fur Farmer is part Veterinarian, part Rancher. Expect to put in a lot of time and effort during peak breeding and capture times (some fur animals don’t breed well and must be brought in from the wild). Otherwise, you could work something like a standard 40-hour workweek. Supervising your staff and keeping track of business matters (payroll, inventory, negotiating prices for furs) take up time outside of the daily farm activities.

It’s a challenging, off-the-beaten-path kind of job. One in a million!