Calibra

Calibra Life Adult Medium Breed: Chicken review

Name: Calibra Life Adult Medium Breed: Chicken
Brand: Calibra

70.3/100Excellent

DryAdult

Flavour

A meat-and-rice kibble sized for middleweight dogs, with the chicken in our Excellent band and the lamb a step behind in Good. Both put a dried, named protein at the top of the label, which is why protein converts well. The gut package prints its doses as well as its names, which most kibbles skip.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Medium-breed adults, with kibble and guides built around dogs from 10kg to 30kg
A named animal protein leading the label, at 42% or 38%
Stomachs that appreciate support, with prebiotics and yeasts itemised beside a Lactobacillus strain
Cautious switchers. A 100g taster bag lets you trial a flavour first

Worth watching

Poultry fat, chicken liver and salmon oil in both recipes, so neither suits a chicken or fish exclusion, the lamb included
The chicken is the more energy dense, so watch portions on a dog whose main exercise is following you to the kitchen

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

How this scores

How we score

70.3/100Excellent

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for medium breed adults. If you are switching to the lamb to get away from chicken, check the list first: poultry fat and chicken liver stay on it.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Medium

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 70.3
Lamb 67.1

Two recipes across Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The chicken takes the lead on our scoring, so it is the one to buy unless your dog does better on lamb.

What's in it

Chicken protein42%Dried first, so gram for gram it carries more protein than fresh meat.
Rice24%
Poultry fat12%No species named. Preserved with tocopherols.
Brewer's rice7%The small broken grains from milling, perfectly digestible.
Hydrolysed poultry protein5%An easily digested top-up the lamb does without.
Dried apple pulp, yeasts3% (apple)A little gentle fibre.
Hydrolysed chicken liver2%A palatability coating.
Salmon oil2%The omega 3.
MOS, beta-glucans, FOS150, 120, 100 mg/kg
Rosemary and thyme, Mojave yucca, inactivated Lactobacillus acidophilus250 mg/kg, 100 mg/kgNot a live probiotic, and the label says so.

A full vitamin set including C and choline, with zinc, iron, manganese, copper and selenium in organic chelated forms, each dose printed.

Named ingredients

Chicken protein (42 %), rice (24 %), poultry fat (12 %, preserved with tocopherols), brewer´s rice, (7 %), hydrolysed poultry protein (5 %), apple pulp dried (3 %), yeasts, hydrolysed chicken liver (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), prebiotics (mannan-oligosaccharides 150 mg/kg, β-glucans 120 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides 100 mg/kg), dried rosemary & thyme (250 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (100 mg/kg), Lactobacillus acidophilus HA - 122 inactivated (15 × 109 cells/kg).

Against the range

Fat: 18%, 398 kcal per 100g; 16% and 382 on the lamb.
Protein, dry matter: 31.9%; 29.7% on the lamb.
Hydrolysed poultry protein: 5%; Not in the lamb.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 38.8%; 41.7% on the lamb.

The richer bowl, and the range's pick for busy, high-mileage dogs.

Both recipes open with a concentrated named protein, chicken at 42% or lamb at 38%, with rice and brewer's rice carrying the starch. Poultry fat, hydrolysed chicken liver at 2% and salmon oil at 2% run through both, so chicken and fish are in each bag whatever the front says.

The gut package is the same in both: MOS, beta-glucans and FOS with printed doses, plus an inactivated Lactobacillus culture. Every trace mineral is chelated. What varies is richness, with the chicken at 18% fat and 398 kcal per 100g and the lamb at 16% and 382.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

398 kcal/100g

Protein

29%

Fat

18%

Fibre

2.8%

Ash

5.8%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

31.9%

Fat

19.8%

Fibre

3.1%

Ash

6.4%

Carbs

38.8%

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

49%

Carbs

25.6%

Veg

Oils

14%

Other

8.4%

Pricing & size