McAdams

McAdams Small Breed: Free Range Chicken & Scottish Salmon review

Name: McAdams Small Breed: Free Range Chicken & Scottish Salmon
Brand: McAdams

56.1/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

The brand's chicken recipe in a kibble a little mouth can manage, with a second bag that adds Scottish salmon. Named, sourced meat makes up half the recipe and every trace mineral has a printed figure. Both finish in our Good band, held back by a plant side that runs a little starchy.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small breed adults. The kibble is scaled to a small jaw
Owners who want the meat named and sourced: British free range chicken on both bags
Grain free homes, with sweet potato, tapioca and lentils in place of cereal
One-dog homes. The 2kg and 5kg bags get finished while still fresh

Worth watching

Salmon oil in both, so neither is fish free
Chicken leads both bags. For a dog with a known chicken problem, the McAdams turkey recipes are the route

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

How this scores

How we score

56.1/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balancePoor

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breed adults; the bag's own table runs from 50 grams a day for a 3kg dog. Check whether your dog has any history with fish before picking the salmon bag.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Free Range Chicken 56.1
Free Range Chicken 55.5

All two Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The salmon version edges the plain chicken bag by a whisker, so let your dog's palate choose between them.

What's in it

Whole British free range chicken40%Steps back from the plain bag to make room for salmon.
Sweet potato25%
Sustainably sourced Scottish salmon10%Richer and more aromatic than the chicken alone.
Tapioca, pea proteinPea protein props up the protein figure.
Chicken fat, yeast, lentils, chicken gravyYeast for B vitamins.
Salmon oil, vegetable fibre
Prebiotics: FOS, MOS0.23% and 0.15%Food for the large intestine's bacteria.
Dried orange, yucca extract
Seaweed, green lipped mussel, marigold, orange, camomile, carrots, cranberries and more0.03% down to 0.01%The flourish. Irish seaweed brings iodine and the mussel is the joint nod; the rest are too small to change how a dog feels.

Every trace element has a figure: zinc and iron at 48 mg per kilo, manganese at 34 mg, copper at 14 mg. Iodine follows at 0.96 mg and selenium at 0.29 mg, in the ordinary sulphate and selenite forms.

Named ingredients

Whole British Free Range Chicken (40%), Sweet Potato (25%), Sustainably Sourced Scottish Salmon (10%), Tapioca, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat, Yeast, Lentils, Chicken Gravy, Vitamins and Minerals, Salmon Oil, Vegetable Fibre, Prebiotics (FOS (0.23%), MOS (0.15%)), Dried Orange, Yucca Extract, Hand Cut Irish Seaweed (0.03%), Marigold, New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel (0.01%) Carrots (0.01%), Tomatoes, Camomile, Cranberries (0.01%), Spinach, Rosemary, Lavender.

Against the range

Meat: Chicken 40%, salmon 10%; Chicken 50% in the plain bag.
Protein, dry matter: 22.8%; 21.7% in the plain bag.
Fat, dry matter: 16.3%; 14.7% in the plain bag.
Energy: 372 kcal per 100g; 354.5 in the plain bag.

The one to try on a small dog that has started turning its nose up at plain chicken.

Both bags are built on whole British free range chicken, with sweet potato leading the plant side and tapioca, pea protein and lentils behind it. No cereal appears. Salmon oil, chicken gravy, yeast and a named prebiotic pair sit in both, and the same itemised mineral panel and tail of botanicals close each list.

What varies is the salmon: the second bag takes chicken down to 40% to fit in 10% Scottish salmon, which lifts protein and fat a little.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

372 kcal/100g

Protein

21%

Fat

15%

Fibre

Ash

8.5%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

22.8%

Fat

16.3%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

9.2%

Carbs

48.4%

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

51.2%

Carbs

43.8%

Veg

0.3%

Oils

2.4%

Other

2.3%

Pricing & size