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Two experiments involving comparative slaughter procedures were conducted to see if the decrease in total energy retention (ER) resulted from the decreased food intake in growing chicks fed on a diet containing tryptophan less than the requirement. Ad libitum-feeding a diet containing 50% of tryptophan of a control diet (1.5 g/kg) decreased body weight gain, apparent metabolizable energy intake (AMEI), ER and ER : AMEI ratio. When both the control diet and the 0.75 g/kg tryptophan diet were tube-fed at the two levels of food intake, body weight gain was significantly lower in chicks on the low tryptophan diet than in the control chicks at each level of intake. AME : gross-energy ratio decreased only when the low tryptophan diet was tube-fed at the higher level of intake. Energy retained as protein was significantly decreased by the low tryptophan level and reduction of food intake. Energy retained as fat was affected by food intake. ER and ER : AMEI ratio were unaffected by dietary tryptophan level and were proportional to AMEI. Heat increment of feeding was affected by neither tryptophan nor food intake. These results indicate that the decreased ER in chicks fed on the low tryptophan diet was due mainly to the decreased food intake and not to the decreased efficiency of ME utilization.