Farmer Raises Katahdin Sheep
The handsome herd of Katahdin sheep were gently grazing in the pasture just off Post Road as Joe Lawson waved his hand across the rolling landscape dotted with white animals, along with an occasional brown or black one, and began to explain the special breed.
“We don’t raise them for wool. Primarily what we do is sell them for breeding stock. After that they are raised for meat. They’re an all-meat sheep and I sell them to individuals, but I don’t butcher them, they have to do that on their own. I don’t do any advertising, my sales come from word-of-mouth and my product sells well to customers from all over, as far away as Florida and North Carolina.
“The Katahdin breed was developed in Maine in about 1972 from five different breeds and now they’re a registered breed, named after Mt. Katahdin in Maine. Mostly they’re white, but occasionally a colored one comes along. They don’t have wool, they just have heavy hair that sheds off to become a slick coat enabling them to withstand cold as well as hot weather.
“Most lambs are slaughtered at about twelve months of age, and some younger than that because some people want a small Easter lamb.
“Besides grazing in the pasture, we supplement their feed to accelerate the growth of the animals. You have to do this with grain to enable them to grow and breed faster. We breed them naturally with rams that have trophy horns, and with some that have no horns at all. They both breed well, but the trophy horn rams bring a better price when sold for breeding stock.”
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As opposed to raising cattle, Mr. Lawson said, “You can raise five sheep on the same amount of land it would take to raise one cow, plus the sheep will eat and keep the weeds down where a cow won’t. So I prefer sheep because they’re easier to care for, more resistant to disease, and they have a much better disposition.”
As far as the safety for his animals, Mr. Lawson said, “I have had problems with coyotes before, but not anymore. One night they killed 17 head, but we’ve stopped them from coming around by using a sheep dog. Coyotes respect territory, and once the dog marked his territory, they wouldn’t come around. That’s not true with domestic dogs, which are always a threat to the sheep.”
Besides raising sheep for breeding stock and the cook pot, Mr. Lawson has also used them for such noble acts as taking lambs to nursing homes to cheer up the patients. Mrs. Lawson commented, “On one occasion a patient who never came out of her room ventured outside when she saw the baby lamb through the window.”
Mr. Lawson also contributes to educational institutions in their teaching of modern day raising of sheep. Last week Dr. Will Getz, in charge of animal husbandry at Ft. Valley State, visited his farm on a fact finding mission.
Mr. Lawson has been working with animals most of his life. “My father died when I was 14-years- old and my younger brother and I had to take over and run a dairy farm. Since then I’ve never done anything but work with animals.”
He was mentioned in author Viv Billingham’s books, The Shepherd’s Wife and One Woman And Her Dog, where she writes about “Big Joe Lawson.”
Also, he was featured in The Southeastern Sheepman’s magazine several times, and The National Horseman Magazine back in his blacksmithing and horse show days. In addition, in The History Of Jasper County, available for sale or loan at the Jasper Co. Library, on page 230, Mr. Lawson is featured on the history of cattle and sheep in the county.
In 1965 Mr. Lawson settled permanently in Jasper County, and at one time had more than 2,000 head of sheep, more than the entire state of Georgia combined. These days he has reduced his heard down to 150 mature sheep and 70 lambs.
So if you want breeding stock to start a sheep farm, have a hankering for some lamb chops, or just want to view a field of beautiful animals, you can find them all between Monticello and Shady Dale just off Post Road.