Applaws

Applaws Adult Small & Medium: Chicken review

Name: Applaws Adult Small & Medium: Chicken
Brand: Applaws

72.5/100Excellent

DryAdult

Flavour

Meat-led kibble cut small for smaller jaws, and it lands in our Excellent band, a step above the typical adult dry food. Chicken makes up roughly half of each recipe, with the meal and fresh portions split out. The joint pair comes with printed figures too.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small and medium breed adults
Owners who want the meat share in black and white, meal and fresh fractions given separately
Dogs that manage better away from grain. Potato and dried peas do the binding
Early joint planners, with glucosamine and chondroitin at 200 mg/kg apiece

Worth watching

Salmon oil at 1.5% in both, so neither is fish free
Chicken is around half of each recipe, a problem for a chicken-sensitive dog
No individual vitamin or mineral figures on the label

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

72.5/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small and medium adult dogs. The label's 200 to 240 grams for 13kg to 17kg agrees closely with our own estimate, so start there and watch the waistline.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small, Medium

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 73.4
Chicken 72.5

All two Excellent. Typical dry food: Good.

The pair finish a point apart, close enough to choose on recipe alone, and both clear most of the market.

What's in it

Chicken: chicken meal, freshly prepared chicken50%36% meal and 14% fresh. The meal leads, so the protein survives cooking.
PotatoThe main starch, with no grain anywhere.
Poultry fat, poultry gravy
Dried peas, dried beet pulpBeet pulp handles fibre.
Dried egg powder, dried brewer's yeastBroaden the protein base.
Vitamins & mineralsOne collective entry, no doses given.
Salmon oil1.5%The omega source, and the fish on the label.
Vegetable fibres, dried chicory, yeast wallChicory 0.35%Prebiotic FOS, MOS and beta glucans aimed at digestive comfort.
Glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate200 mg/kg each
Seaweed through paprika: herbs, fruits, two inactivated Lactobacillus culturesCultures 0.005% eachTrace level.

Vitamins and minerals are declared as one line, with no individual doses to check.

Named ingredients

Chicken 50% (Chicken Meal 36%, Freshly Prepared Chicken* 14%), Potato*, Poultry Fat, Poultry Gravy*, Dried Peas*, Dried Beet Pulp*, Dried Egg Powder*, Dried Brewer's Yeast*, Vitamins & Minerals, Salmon Oil 1.5%, Vegetable Fibres*, Dried Chicory* 0.35% (a Source of Prebiotic FOS), Dried Seaweed*, Lucerne Meal*, Yeast Wall (a Source of Beta-Glucans and Prebiotic MOS), Dried Tomato*, Dried Carrot*, Dried Parsley*, Dried Peppermint*, Dried Yucca Schidigera*, Dried Rosehip*, Glucosamine 200 mg/kg, Chondroitin Sulphate 200 mg/kg, Dried Basil*, Dried Turmeric*, Cranberry Powder*, Dried Carob*, Dried Ginger*, Dried Dandelion Root*, Inactivated Lactobacillus Helveticus 0.005%, Inactivated Lacticaseibacillus Paracasei 0.005%, Dried Paprika*. *Natural Ingredients.

Against the range

Chicken: 50%: 36% meal, 14% fresh; 47% on the Chicken with Lamb.
Other animals on the label: None beyond chicken, egg and salmon oil; Lamb meal at 4% in the other.

The simpler of the two, with no second meat on top of the chicken.

Both open on chicken meal with freshly prepared chicken behind it, itemised on the label. Meal has already lost its water, so its protein carries into the finished kibble: 39.6% of dry matter, with estimated carbohydrate at 31.3%. Potato and dried peas carry the starch, so there is no grain.

Salmon oil at 1.5% is on both labels, as are glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate at 200 mg/kg each. The vitamins and minerals are one collective entry with no doses. The only real difference is lamb meal at 4% in the second recipe.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

379.4 kcal/100g

Protein

36%

Fat

15%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

39.6%

Fat

16.5%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

9.9%

Carbs

31.3%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

52.3%

Added water

8.4%

Carbs

28.8%

Veg

1.1%

Oils

7.9%

Other

1.5%