Golden Eagle Chicken Formula review

This one comes to rest in the Good band, alongside the typical adult dry food. Two plain facts hold it there, the first being an animal side named from the chicken meal at the top to the liver gravy near the bottom. The second is an estimated carbohydrate load of 41.6% of dry matter, where the typical dry food runs to 46.2%. Protein and processing comes back Good, nutritional balance Average, and transparency Excellent. That is a fair portrait of a recipe that tells you plainly what is in it and then delivers a sensible everyday analysis.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken Meal (26%), Wholegrain White Rice, Wholegrain Brown Rice, Refined Chicken Fat, Oatmeal, Potato, Pork Meal (5%), Whole Linseed, Tomato Pomace, Beet Pulp, Egg (3%), Salmon Meal (3%), Peas, Carrot, Lucerne, Salmon Oil, Chicken Liver Gravy, Mono Sodium Phosphate, Salt (Natrox), Potassium Chloride, Seaweed, Yucca, Joint Care Pack, Dried Apple, Cranberry, Selenium, Beta Carotene, L-Carnitine, Minerals, Vitamins

Chicken meal at 26% is dried chicken with the water already removed. Very little of it is lost between the mixer and the finished biscuit. Refined chicken fat and a chicken liver gravy follow it further down, which means chicken flavours this recipe as well as supplying its protein. Declared protein converts to 28.6% of dry matter, a comfortable adult level.

The supporting animals are worth noticing. Pork meal at 5% is unusual in a British kibble and brings a different amino acid balance with it. Salmon meal at 3% adds marine protein, and egg at 3% is among the most usable proteins a dog can be given.

Starch comes from wholegrain white and brown rice, oatmeal and potato between them. Oats carry fibre and a set of minerals along with their starch, and wholegrain rice is gentle on most digestions once it has been cooked. Carbohydrate is estimated at 41.6% of dry matter, on the lower side for a grain-inclusive food.

Omega 3 is covered from both ends, marine through salmon oil and plant through whole linseed. Beet pulp and tomato pomace supply the fibre, peas, carrot and lucerne round the plate out, and seaweed brings iodine and a spread of trace minerals with it.

The tail of this label mixes the specific with the vague. Selenium, beta carotene and L-carnitine are named and each does a real job, salt is declared under the Natrox name, and then the Joint Care Pack sits there telling you nothing about itself. It is worth a message to the maker if joint support is what brought you to this bag.

The bag comes in 2kg, 6kg and 12kg.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition will eat about 239 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). Adjust by feel over the first fortnight, and the waistline decides.