The Sarda is highly adaptable; it may be kept on lowland or on mountainous terrains, and is suitable both for intensive and for extensive or transhumant management.

It is reared throughout the island, and in substantial numbers in the mainland Italian regions of Lazio and Tuscany, where there are many Sardinian shepherds; there are small populations in Emilia-Romagna, in Liguria and in Molise.

[2]: 272 [4] In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a number of attempts were made to improve it by cross-breeding with stock of the Barbaresca, Gentile di Puglia, Merino, Rambouillet, Sopravissana and Vissana breeds among others.

[2]: 272  Recent selection has been aimed at improving the conformation of the udder and at making it more suitable for mechanised milking.

[2]: 273 The meat is most often sold as milk lamb, slaughtered at a weight of some 10 kg, which is reached in approximately 30 days.