Nature's Variety

Nature's Variety Selected Adult Medium / Maxi: Free Range Chicken review

Name: Nature's Variety Selected Adult Medium / Maxi: Free Range Chicken
Brand: Nature's Variety

66.1/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

A grain free range for bigger dogs that builds every recipe from two or three named animals, never one. Dried protein concentrates sit behind a deboned meat, and nearly every entry, down to kelp at a hundredth of a percent, has its figure printed. All three bags land in our Good band.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Medium, large and giant adults, the frames the kibble is drawn for
Dogs happier without grain
Owners who read the panel line by line
Active adults, with declared protein of 29% or more in every bag

Worth watching

Mixed species in every bag: turkey with the chicken, tuna with the salmon
Poultry fat and a poultry, pork and fish hydrolysate throughout, so no bag is bird free or fit for a strict elimination diet

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

How this scores

How we score

66.1/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for medium, large and giant adults. None of the labels prints a calcium figure; check the label's table against your dog's weight, as the waistline settles any disagreement.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Free Range Chicken 66.1
Turkey 63.5
Norwegian Salmon 63.0

All three Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Three solid Good results; the blended species and the three-animal hydrolysed protein are what stop any of them climbing further.

What's in it

Deboned chicken meat16%Fresh weight, mostly water before cooking.
Dried chicken protein15%
Dried peas15%
Dried turkey protein13%The second bird.
Dried potato, sweet potato, pea starch11%, 4%The grain free starch.
Poultry fat7%
Hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish)4%Three species in one entry, which keeps the range off a strict elimination plan.
Beet pulp, mineralsBeet pulp does the fibre work.
Dried carrot, dried apple0.5%, 0.3%
Dried seaweed (kelp), dried rosemary0.01% eachKelp for iodine, rosemary to slow the fats turning. Honest seasoning, with a number on it.

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

Named ingredients

Deboned chicken meat* (16%), dried chicken protein (15%), dried peas* (15%), dried turkey protein (13%), dried potato* (11%), poultry fat* (7%), hydrolysed animal proteins (poultry, pork, fish) (4%), sweet potato* (4%), pea starch*, 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, with turkey protein at 13%; Turkey with chicken, or salmon with tuna.
Fibre, dry matter: 4.3%; Highest; 3.3% and 3.8% on the others.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 35.9%; 36.4% on the other two.

The top scorer of the three, and the obvious place to start.

Each recipe opens with a deboned meat at 16%, a fresh weight that is mostly water, and the dried protein concentrates behind it supply the protein that lasts. Every recipe blends two or three named animals, and a hydrolysed protein naming poultry, pork and fish sits in all three. Poultry fat is in every bag.

There is no cereal: dried potato at 11%, dried peas and sweet potato carry the starch. Protein finishes between 31.5% and 33.7% of dry matter. Percentages run almost the full length of each list.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

384 kcal/100g

Protein

30%

Fat

17%

Fibre

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

32.6%

Fat

18.5%

Fibre

4.3%

Ash

8.7%

Carbs

35.9%

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

48%

Carbs

41.6%

Veg

1.9%

Oils

Other

1.5%

Pricing & size