Fig. 5From: Functional enrichment of gut microbiome by early supplementation of Bacillus based probiotic in cage free hens: a field studyAlpha diversity of gut microbiota of laying chickens affected by probiotic supplementation, rearing and laying conditions. a). Overall diversity of the probiotic and control flocks. b). Overall richness of taxa of samples collected from control and probiotic supplemented flocks. c). Overall evenness of taxa of samples collected from control and probiotic supplemented flocks. d). Overall diversity affected by the probiotic supplementation in the rearing (Rear) and production (Prod) phases of laying chickens. e). Overall richness of taxa of samples in Rear and Prod phases of laying chickens. f). Overall evenness of taxa of samples in Rear and Prod phases of laying chickens. g). Overall diversity affected by the probiotic supplementation in the Pre-lay and Early-lay phases of laying chickens. h). Overall richness affected by the probiotic supplementation in the Pre-lay and Early-lay phases of laying chickens. i). Overall evenness affected by the probiotic supplementation in the Pre-lay and Early-lay phases of laying chickens. Within each treatment group, “C” and “P” refer to control and probiotic supplemented flocks, respectively. Alpha diversity was measured at the genus level using Shannon index, richness and evenness in Calypso software. Asterisks (*) and (**) show a significant variation in community structure of samples collected from control and probiotic supplemented groups at P < 0.05 and P < 0.005, respectivelyBack to article page