McAdams Large Breed: Free Range Chicken review

Our Good band takes both varieties, putting them level with the great mass of adult dry food. A large single-species meat headline, sourcing that is actually stated and a mineral panel dosed line by line all pull upward. The plant side of the recipe is what stops them going higher. Carbohydrate converts to 50.1% of dry matter in the chicken bag, 51.1% in the salmon, and both sit above the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. Pea protein is also quietly doing some of the lifting that a 50% meat headline implies is chicken's work.

Ingredients, as declared: Whole British Free Range Chicken (50%), Sweet Potato (24%), Tapioca, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat, Brewer's Yeast, Chicken Stock, Pea Fibre, Minerals, Lentils, Salmon Oil, Vegetable Fibre, Prebiotics (FOS (0.2%), MOS (0.15%)), Dried Marigold, Yucca Extract, Hand Cut Irish Seaweed (0.03%), Dried Orange, New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel (0.02%), Camomile, Carrots (0.01%), Cranberries (0.01%), Rosemary, Spinach, Tomatoes, Lavender.

The chicken here is whole and fresh, and most of that water goes in the oven. No dried chicken meal stands behind it to make up the difference. Protein finishes at 21.7% of dry matter, a moderate figure for a kibble with a headline this big. None of that is a criticism of the chicken, a meat dogs digest easily and rarely refuse. It is only a note on how much of the finished biscuit it can account for.

Sweet potato is the main carbohydrate and a good choice for it, since its starch arrives with fibre and micronutrients. Behind it, tapioca is pure starch and offers very little else, while lentils add a useful mix of fibre, protein and minerals. Read the pea protein entry carefully. It is a straightforward way of raising a protein figure, and while it does no harm, it is not the equal of the meat it sits alongside.

The support cast is thoughtful. Yeast brings a full spread of B vitamins. Prebiotic FOS is declared at 0.2% in the chicken bag and at 0.23% in the salmon, with MOS at 0.15% in both. Those two work on the large intestine's friendly bacteria, not on the dog. Pea fibre and vegetable fibre keep things moving, and yucca extract has long been added to soften the smell of the stool.

Then comes the tail: marigold, hand cut Irish seaweed at 0.03%, dried orange, green lipped mussel at 0.02%, camomile, carrots and cranberries at 0.01% each, rosemary, spinach, tomatoes and lavender. Seaweed is a genuinely mineral rich addition and the fruits bring antioxidants, but at these percentages the list is decoration. The food stands on its chicken, not on its lavender.

The trace minerals are dosed and named: zinc at 50 mg, iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg, copper at 15 mg, iodine at 0.96 mg and selenium at 0.29 mg per kilo. The forms are sulphates, the more ordinary choice, and selenium is supplied as sodium selenite. Calcium works out at 1.41% of dry matter, comfortable for a fully grown big dog.

Chicken at 50% with sweet potato at 24%, brewer's yeast for its B vitamins and chicken stock for palatability. This is the plainer of the pair, and a sensible place to start if your dog has no history on fish. Fibre is the higher of the two here at 4.3% of dry matter, with energy at 358 kcal per 100 grams.

£11.50 a kilo for the chicken and £12.50 a kilo for the chicken and salmon, both sold in 2kg, 5kg and 10kg bags.

As a guide, take a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition at around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). That is about 235 grams a day on the chicken and 230 grams on the salmon, or £2.70 and £2.88 a day. The label speaks to the dogs this range is really aimed at, asking 280 to 385 grams for a 30kg dog. Scale that to the animal in front of you, and judge by the waistline.