Klebsiella spp., Citrobacter spp., and Escherichia coli were the most prominent genera, but many species could only be detected in 1 of 12 piglets. Pantoea spp. were only detected in the high dietary ZnO group. No differences were observed due to increased individual variations between piglets, but the high dietary ZnO group generally displayed numerically greater abundances than the low dietary ZnO group.
Richness, Shannon, and Simpson indices as well as evenness are shown in Table 5. Richness (P = 0.009), Shannon (P = 0.037), and Simpson (P = 0.025) indices were all increased due to increased dietary ZnO intake, whereas the evenness was only numerically increased.