Nature's Variety

Nature's Variety Healthy Grains Puppy Mini: Chicken review

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

61.3/100Good

DryPuppy

A Good-band small-breed puppy kibble built on whole grains. Chicken opens the list twice, deboned at 20% and dried at 19%, and carbohydrate converts to an estimated 33.1% of dry matter against 39.0% for the typical puppy food. The analysis stops short of calcium.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Small-breed puppies, the only size the maker lists
Busy little dogs, at an estimated 384 kcal per 100g
Whole grains over a grain-free build: brown rice, barley and oats
Owners who want the meat identified, chicken named in both forms

Worth watching

No calcium printed, the growth figure most worth having even for a pup that finishes small
Hydrolysed proteins from poultry, pork and fish, which rules out an exclusion diet

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

How this scores

How we score

61.3/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceExcellent

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small-breed puppies. Ask the maker for the calcium figure before ordering, and start from the bag's chart for age and adult size.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 61.3

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Chicken named twice at the top and a modest carbohydrate share earn the place; plant protein mid list and an analysis missing moisture and calcium limit it.

What's in it

Deboned chicken meat20%Goes in fresh and gives up most of its water in cooking.
Dried chicken protein19%Already dry, so it carries more of the finished protein than its place suggests.
Dried peas, maize protein15%Plant protein, so the 33.0% protein is not purely a meat figure.
Poultry fat7%Family name, no species.
Brown rice, whole barley, oats7% down to 5%The reason the range exists. Easy for a small dog to digest.
Hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish)4%Three animal families in one line.
Minerals
Fish oil1%The long-chain omega 3.
Dried carrot, dried apple0.5%, 0.3%Equivalent to 4% and 2% fresh.
Dried kelp, dried rosemary0.01% each

Vitamins A, D3, E and C with iron, iodine, copper, manganese, zinc and selenium, all dosed in print.

Calcium and moisture are not printed. Ask the maker for calcium, the figure a growth food is judged on.

Named ingredients

Deboned chicken meat* (20%), dried chicken protein (19%), dried peas* (15%), maize protein, poultry fat* (7%), brown rice* (7%), whole barley*, oats* (5%), 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

33%

Fat

19%

Fibre

2.5%

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

35.9%

Fat

20.7%

Fibre

2.7%

Ash

7.6%

Carbs

33.1%

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

44%

Veg

2.8%

Oils

Other

2.2%

Pricing & size