Effects of a high-protein, low-energy diet in finishing lambs: 1. Feed intake, estimated nutrient uptake, and levels of plasma metabolites and metabolic hormones

These results contrast with observations from intra-gastric infusion experiments testing similar PERs and previous conventional feeding trials and provide evidence of: (1) specific differences associated with PER in lambs fed via intra-gastric infusion vs. a conventional feeding approach, and (2) lack of usefulness of high PER diets in the post hoc modification of body composition of growing lambs. While positive N balance is known to occur in ruminants in negative energy balance, the determinants of relative proportions of muscle and adipose tissue catabolised under energy deprivation remain unknown.