Natures Deli

Natures Deli Grain Free Puppy/Junior review

Name: Natures Deli Grain Free Puppy/Junior
Brand: Natures Deli

66/100Good

DryPuppy

A cereal-free duck recipe for puppies that sets out its meat in full, and it lands in our Good band. Duck meal, fresh duck and duck gravy each carry their own percentage. Calcium is declared and the supplements are dosed, more than many growth labels manage.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Pups kept off cereal, with sweet potato, peas and chick peas doing grain's job
Duck and nothing else: duck covers every animal entry, the fat included
Early joint support, with glucosamine at 0.012% and chondroitin sulphate at 0.005% printed
Gut support with a figure attached. MOS and FOS are both declared at 0.23%
Juniors still filling out, with L-carnitine at 150 mg a kilo and taurine on the panel

Worth watching

Calcium at 1.87% of dry matter, above the window large and giant breeds are reared to
Pea protein high on the list, so part of the declared protein is plant
No source named for the glucosamine and chondroitin, a small unknown on a strict exclusion diet
Energy is our estimate, so treat 353 kcal per 100g as a guide

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

How this scores

How we score

66/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for puppies and juniors. For a pup heading for a large or giant frame, have a word with your vet about the calcium first.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Duck

The score, in context

Natures Deli Grain Free Puppy/Junior 66.0

All one Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Nothing drags it down on its own; the share of the recipe carried by sweet potato and pea ingredients keeps it level with the typical puppy kibble.

What's in it

Duck: duck meal, duck, duck gravy35.2% (22.2%, 11.1%, 1.9%)The meal carries through more or less as printed; the fresh duck shrinks in cooking.
Dried sweet potato28%The largest single entry after the meat, binding in place of grain.
Duck fatKeeps the fat on the same animal.
Pea proteinLifts the protein figure from a plant; it does not match meat for a growing pup.
Dried peas, dried beet pulp, dried chick peas5.6%, not given, 2.8%
Brewers' yeast, dried pumpkin, minerals1.9% pumpkin
Linseed oil, vegetable stock, dried carrot0.5% carrot
Yeast (MOS), chicory root extract (FOS)0.23% eachPrebiotics with figures attached.
Yucca schidigera, glucosamine, chondroitin sulphate0.023%, 0.012%, 0.005%Joint support printed, though the label lists ginger, rosemary, yucca and glucosamine twice.
Ginger, rosemary, cranberry, dandelion root, pomegranateGarnish at trace level.

Taurine and L-carnitine, vitamins E and C, zinc partly as a chelate, and a live Bacillus subtilis culture to steady the gut flora.

Calcium is 1.87% of dry matter, above the tighter window for large and giant breed rearing. Check it with your vet for a big pup.

Named ingredients

Duck (35.2%; including duck meal (22.2%), duck (11.1%), duck gravy (1.9%)), dried sweet potato (28%), duck fat, pea protein, dried peas (5.6%), dried beet pulp, dried chick peas (2.8%), brewers' yeast, dried pumpkin (1.9%), minerals, linseed oil, vegetable stock, dried carrot (0.5%), yeast (as a source of mannan- oligosaccharides (prebiotic MOS; 0.23%)), chicory root extract (as a source of fructo-oligosaccharides (prebiotic FOS; 0.23%)), dried ginger, dried rosemary, yucca schidigera (0.023%), glucosamine (0.012%), dried ginger, dried rosemary, yucca schidigera (0.023%), glucosamine (0.012%), dried cranberry, dried dandelion root, dried pomegranate, chondroitin sulphate (0.005%)

Against the range

One grain-free puppy kibble with duck as the only animal, its share split three ways on the label. Dried sweet potato at 28% does the binding, with peas, chick peas and pea protein behind it. The tail comes with numbers attached, from the prebiotic pair to the joint supplements, and calcium is declared.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

353 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

28%

Fat

16%

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

9.5%

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

30.8%

Fat

17.6%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

10.4%

Carbs

37.4%

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

22.2%

Added water

1.5%

Carbs

57.2%

Veg

2.8%

Oils

10.8%

Other

5.5%