Nature's Variety

Nature's Variety Healthy Grains Puppy Medium / Maxi: Chicken review

Name: Nature's Variety Healthy Grains Puppy Medium / Maxi: Chicken
Brand: Nature's Variety

60/100Good

DryPuppy

A chicken growth kibble for bigger breeds that keeps its grains whole and its meat named, in our Good band. Deboned chicken at 20% and dried chicken protein at 18% head the list, with brown rice, oats and whole barley behind. The gap is calcium: the bag is written for large breed growth, and the figure that governs it is not printed.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer links are coming soon. Once we have them from UK retailers, where to buy and the best price will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Puppies heading for a medium, large or giant frame
Fast growers with an appetite. Energy is estimated at 384 kcal per 100g
Owners who want whole grains, brown rice at 7% and oats at 6.5% among them
Chicken named on the back of the pack in both its forms

Worth watching

No calcium figure, so ring the maker before a giant pup goes on it
Hydrolysed proteins from poultry, pork and fish rule out a strict single-protein plan

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

How this scores

How we score

60/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for medium, large and giant breed puppies. Get the calcium figure from Nature's Variety first, then work from the bag's chart and re-check it every fortnight.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 60.0

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Named chicken in two forms and a lighter starch load earn the placing; plant protein high on the list and no moisture or calcium line keep it there.

What's in it

Deboned chicken meat20%Fresh, so most of its weight cooks away.
Dried chicken protein18%Goes in dry and does more of the lifting than its place suggests.
Dried peas, maize protein15% peasPlant protein inside the 32.0% total.
Brown rice, oats, whole barley7%, 6.5%Whole cereals most puppies digest comfortably.
Poultry fat6.5%Names the family of birds, not the species.
Hydrolysed animal proteins4%Declared as poultry, pork and fish.
Minerals
Fish oil1%Long chain omega 3 for a developing brain and coat.
Dried carrot, dried apple0.5%, 0.3%Equivalent to 4% and 2% fresh.
Dried seaweed (kelp), dried rosemary0.01% each

Vitamins A, D3, E and C, with zinc at 128 mg, iron at 86 mg and manganese at 40 mg per kilo among the trace elements.

No calcium figure on a bag sold for large breed growth. Ask the maker before a giant pup goes on it.

Moisture is not declared, so the dry-matter figures assume 8% and the energy figure is our estimate.

Named ingredients

Deboned chicken meat* (20%), dried chicken protein (18%), dried peas* (15%), maize protein, brown rice* (7%), poultry fat* (6.5%), oats* (6.5%), whole barley*, hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish) (4%), minerals, fish oil* (1%), 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

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

383.8 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

32%

Fat

19%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

34.8%

Fat

20.7%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

7.6%

Carbs

34.2%

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

42%

Carbs

45.5%

Veg

2.8%

Oils

7.5%

Other

2.2%

Pricing & size