Nature's Variety

Nature's Variety Healthy Grains Adult Mini: Chicken review

Name: Nature's Variety Healthy Grains Adult Mini: Chicken
Brand: Nature's Variety

57.5/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

A grain-friendly kibble packed for small dogs, and all three reach our Good band. The label gives percentages almost all the way down, and the feeding table starts at a one kilo dog. Estimated carbohydrate is 38.5% of dry matter, under the 46.2% typical of adult dry.

View on Amazon

Affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, Off the Leash earns from qualifying purchases.

Our view

Likely to suit

Small breed adults, with a feeding table that starts at one kilo
Owners who would sooner keep grain in the bowl: oats, brown rice and barley are each named
Dogs with a small appetite. A hydrolysed protein at 4% makes the bowl worth finishing
Households with several little dogs, as the three share a build and swap the headline animal

Worth watching

Dried chicken protein is second on the turkey label too
The hydrolysed protein names poultry, pork and fish at once, so none suits a strict elimination diet
Maize protein on all three lists

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

How this scores

How we score

57.5/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breed adults. The table asks 80 grams for a 5kg dog and 140 grams for a 10kg one, so weigh it out at the start.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Turkey 58.5
Chicken 57.5
White Fish 52.0

All three Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The two birds sit a shade ahead of the fish, and the gap is in the second line of the ingredients, where dried chicken protein at 19% outweighs dried tuna at 11%.

What's in it

Deboned chicken meat20%
Dried chicken protein19%Comes through cooking more or less intact.
Dried peas, oats, brown rice13%, 12%, 7%
Whole barleyKeeps more of its micronutrients than a refined grain, and brings gluten.
Poultry fat6%
Hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish)4%For flavour on a small palate. Three animals at once, named openly, which rules out a single protein diet.
Maize proteinA protein topper, on all three lists.
Beet pulp, minerals
Dried carrot, apple, kelp, rosemary0.5% down to 0.01%Kelp for iodine, rosemary to keep the fats fresh.

Vitamins A, D3, E and C, with iron, iodine, copper, manganese and zinc in sulphate form, not chelated, and selenium as sodium selenite.

Named ingredients

Deboned chicken meat* (20%), dried chicken protein (19%), dried peas* (13%), oats* (12%), brown rice* (7%), whole barley*, poultry fat* (6%), hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish) (4%), maize protein, beet pulp*, minerals, dried carrot* (0.5% equivalent to 4% of fresh carrot), dried apple* (0.3% equivalent to 2% fresh apple), dried seaweed (kelp)* (0.01%), dried rosemary* (0.01%). *Natural ingredients

Against the range

Meat: Chicken 20%, dried chicken 19%; Turkey keeps the dried chicken; White Fish has dried tuna at 11%.
Bag sizes: Four, from 0.6kg; Two on the others.
Pillars: Same as the turkey; White Fish trails both birds.

The straightforward starting point for a small dog with no poultry problem behind them.

Each recipe opens on a deboned meat or fish at 20%, mostly water before the oven, with a dried protein behind it doing the real work. Oats, brown rice and whole barley are each named, with dried peas beside them and maize protein further down. Poultry fat at 6% and a hydrolysed blend of poultry, pork and fish run through all three.

The declared analysis is identical across the range: protein 29%, converting to 31.5% of dry matter on an assumed 8% moisture. What varies is the dried protein in second place.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

370.2 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

29%

Fat

17%

Fibre

Ash

7.5%

Dry weight

Protein

31.5%

Fat

18.5%

Fibre

3.3%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

38.5%

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

43%

Carbs

48.5%

Veg

1.4%

Oils

Other

1.1%

Pricing & size