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A dose-response study was conducted to investigate the metabolizable energy (ME) requirement for Lingnan chickens from 9 to 15 weeks of age. One thousand two hundred 8-week-old slow-growing yellow-feathered male chickens were allotted to five dietary ME levels (2805, 2897, 2997, 3095 and 3236 kcal/kg). The results revealed that the daily metabolizable energy intake increased (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01), whereas the feed intake and feed:gain ratio decreased linearly (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.01) with the increment in dietary ME level. The final body weight and daily gain of the highest ME treatment tended (<i>p</i> &gt; 0.05) to be greater than those obtained with the lower ME levels. The fat content in breast muscle showed a quadratic response (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) to the increase in dietary energy level. The shear force values of breast muscle in the 2897, 3095 and 3236 kcal/kg treatments were lower (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05) than those of the 2997 kcal/kg treatment. In conclusion, among the tested ME levels, 3095 kcal/kg was adequate for feed intake, shear force, and plasma uric acid, and 3236 kcal/kg tended to increase the body weight, body gain, and feed conversion ratio of Lingnan males between 9 and 15 weeks of age; further studies are still required for testing higher levels.