Fig. 9

Effect of delay in feed access for the first 48 h post-hatch on relative bacterial abundance (%) in cecal luminal (CE-L, a-c) and mucosal (CE-M, d-g) bacterial populations day 1 (24 h) through day 14 (336 h) post-hatch at genus and species level. Taxonomic profile of chicken CE-L at (a) genus and (c) species level. Effect of delayed access to feed early post-hatch on (b) Klebsiella level in CE-L. Taxonomic profile of chicken CE-M at (d) genus and (h) species level. Effect of delayed access to feed early post-hatch on (e) Unclassified bacteria (Uncl), (f) Anaerotruncus and (g) Klebsiella level in CE-M. Asterisks denote statistically significant differences between fed (F) and not-fed (NF) chickens (P < 0.05)