Akela 80:20 Free-Range Chicken review

Excellent is where this recipe lands, a step above the Good band that holds the typical adult dry food. Transparency reads Outstanding and the other three pillars read Good, and the food gets there on steadiness rather than spectacle.

Ingredients, as declared: Freshly Prepared British Chicken 80%, Sweet Potato 13%, Potato Fibre 3%, Chicken Stock 1%, Minerals, Tapioca, Linseed, Lucerne, Lentils, Chickpeas, Dehydrated Egg, Joint Support (Glucosamine 1138 mg/kg, MSM 1138 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 800 mg/kg), Pre-biotic FOS 1730 mg/kg, Coconut Oil, Dried Apple, Dried Camomile, Dried Dandelion, Aniseed & Fenugreek, Dried Seaweed, Dried Marigold, Organic Dried Carrot, Organic Pumpkin Powder, Organic Spinach Powder, Dried Pear, Dried Peppermint, Yucca Extract, Dried Bilberry, Burdock Root, Dried Garlic, Organic Honey, Dried Rosehips.

An 80% fresh chicken headline is a real commitment, but fresh meat surrenders most of its weight as water in the oven and there is no dried meat behind it here. That shows in the analysis: protein converts to 31.5% of dry matter, the gentler end for a meat-led kibble. The carbohydrate estimate stays a useful distance below typical at 35.9% of dry matter against 46.2%.

Sweet potato at 13% leads the binding with potato fibre at 3%, then tapioca, lentils and chickpeas at minor levels. No cereal of any kind appears.

Linseed earns its spot as the omega source, supplying plant-form omega 3 that a dog converts more slowly than the fish kind but that keeps the recipe genuinely fish free. Dried egg adds a concentrated, well-rounded protein boost in a food whose meat is otherwise all fresh.

Joint support is among the more serious you will find printed on a chicken recipe, with glucosamine and MSM at 1138 mg/kg each and chondroitin sulphate at 800 mg/kg. Prebiotic FOS is dosed generously at 1730 mg/kg.

Near the tail, dried garlic and organic honey may catch a wary eye. Both sit at seasoning level, where garlic is a traditional inclusion rather than a hazard. The trace minerals above them come chelated and dosed: zinc at 120 mg, iron at 48 mg, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 12 mg and iodine at 1.55 mg per kilo.

£6.15 a kilo when we checked, across 1.5kg, 10kg, 13kg, 15kg and 30kg bags.

Expect around 223 grams a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, about £1.37, based on the standard maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75, roughly 840 kcal.