“…Energy deficiency retards lamb growth performance, carcass characteristics and productivity (Hosseini, Akbary, Maheri-Sis, & Aghsaghali, 2008), which is further accompanied by deficiencies in protein, vitamins and minerals (Abdullah et al, 2008;Lu & Potchoiba, 1990). The proper growth and development of growing lambs largely depend on the nutrition level, and increasing dietary energy levels generally can improve the average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency of sheep (Ebrahimi, Ahmadi, Zamiri, & Rowghani, 2007;Hosseini et al, 2008;Song et al, 2018), while insufficient nutrition, especially of energy, reduces the growth performance of intensively managed sheep (Bellof & Pallauf 2004;Cameron & Speakman 2010;Kim et al, 2017). Some studies indicate that metabolizable energy intake can influence serum biochemical indices (Song et al, 2018), meat composition and quality (de Araújo et al, 2017;Arsenos et al, 2002), lipid metabolism and fatty acid profiles (Zhang, Liu, Brown, & Wu, 2015).…”