Exe Valley

Exe Valley Essential Range Adult: Lamb review

Name: Exe Valley Essential Range Adult: Lamb
Brand: Exe Valley

55.5/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

Exe Valley's plainer line, built on dried meat meal and cereals, with all four recipes in our Good band. The lamb, salmon and turkey share one rice, barley and oats base. The large breed chicken carries more meat and pulls ahead.

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Our view

Likely to suit

A large dog that gets through a lot of bag
Dogs that digest cooked cereals happily, each grain named
Label readers who like a meat meal at the top
Plant omega 3, from linseed at 2% or 3%
One named animal on the list, in the lamb, salmon and turkey

Worth watching

Poultry fat with no bird named in the large breed chicken
Cereal based throughout, so not for grain-free homes
Older inorganic mineral forms, which the gut takes up a little less readily

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

How this scores

How we score

55.5/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balancePoor

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs, with the chicken written for large breeds. The energy figures are our estimates, so weigh the first fortnight's portions.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Main protein

Lamb

The score, in context

Large Breed Chicken 62.8
Salmon 57.4
Turkey 57.0
Lamb 55.5

All four Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The large breed chicken leads on the strength of its extra meal, and the other three sit a little behind on a heavier cereal base.

What's in it

Lamb meal26%Already dried, so it reads close to its figure in the finished kibble.
Rice26%The gentlest of the three grains.
Barley, oatsMore fibre.
Rapeseed oilA plant oil that measures up well.
Linseed3%Plant omega 3.
Lamb gravy, beet pulp
Alfalfa1.5%
Minerals, seaweed, chicorySeaweed 0.5%, chicory 0.3%Seaweed for iodine, chicory for prebiotic inulin.

Vitamins A, D3 and E with iron, zinc, manganese, copper, iodine and selenium, all dosed.

Named ingredients

Lamb Meal (26%), Rice (26%), Barley, Oats, Rapeseed Oil, Linseed (3%), Lamb Gravy, Beet Pulp, Alfalfa (1.5%), Minerals, Seaweed (0.5%), Chicory (0.3%).

Against the range

Protein, dry matter: 21.7%; 25.0% to 32.6%
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 52.2%; 40.8% to 52.2%
Meat: 26% lamb meal; Same share on salmon and turkey, 35% on chicken

The gentlest option in the range, on one of the easier red meats to digest.

Every recipe opens on a dried meat meal, so the declared share holds through cooking, though meal tells you the species and little else. Lamb, salmon and turkey sit at 26% meal over rice at 26% with barley and oats, rapeseed oil for fat and linseed for plant omega 3.

The large breed chicken is a different build: 35% chicken meal, maize second, rice at 14%, poultry fat and a joint pair. The vitamin and mineral panel is identical on every bag, with metals as sulphates and selenium as sodium selenite. No moisture is printed, so dry matter figures assume 8%.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

331.5 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

20%

Fat

11%

Fibre

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

21.7%

Fat

12%

Fibre

4.3%

Ash

9.8%

Carbs

52.2%

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

30.9%

Carbs

58.9%

Veg

2.3%

Oils

3.8%

Other

Pricing & size