Effects of dietary EO on the composition of cecal microbe, function prediction, and correlation analysis of cecal microbial abundance and growth performance index of yellow-feather broilers. (A) The β-diversity of cecum in the yellow-feather broilers on d 21 was analyzed by the principal component analysis (PCA) based on binary_jaccard algorithm among samples of different groups. Each point represents one sample. (B) The relative abundance of cecal microbiota on phylum level was analyzed. (C) LEfSe analysis of 21-d cecal microbiota of yellow-feather broilers among the treatment groups. (D) Correlation analysis of cecal microbial abundance and growth performance index of yellow-feather broilers. (E) The metabolic function of cecal microflora in 21-d yellow-feathered broilers was predicted based on FAPROTAX database. CON, basic diet; EO200, basic diet contain 200 mg/kg essential oils; EO400, basic diet contain 400 mg/kg essential oils; EO600, basic diet contain 600 mg/kg essential oils. * Indicates a significant difference (P < 0.05).