Sheep are well suited to small-scale farming and are easy for the novice to care for.
Children also seem to find the animals more interesting than the vegetable garden. The two most common ways sheep are raised on a hobby farm are commercial lamb production and finishing lambs. Commercial lamb production involves keeping breeding stock year-round to produce lambs, which are then sold. The farmer who finishes lambs will purchase weaned lambs and feed them to a market weight of about 110 lbs. Finishing lambs on small farms is usually done during the warm months when pasture is available.