Vitalin

Vitalin Adult: Farmhouse Beef review

Name: Vitalin Adult: Farmhouse Beef
Brand: Vitalin

61/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

A conventional British kibble that prints what it uses, with all three recipes in our Good band and the Chicken at the head. The thing that marks it out is the joint and gut layer, dosed in print on every label.

View on Amazon

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

Our view

Likely to suit

Owners who want joint support with the doses shown: glucosamine and MSM at 340 mg/kg each, chondroitin at 240 mg/kg
Dogs whose digestion likes a steady hand. Chicory root FOS and MOS work behind the meat
Rotating flavours without changing brand, as the base and additive package stay the same
A dog that does well on chicken. The Chicken recipe keeps every animal ingredient on one bird
Adults of any size, from toy to giant

Worth watching

Chicken in the Farmhouse Beef and the Pork with Apple, so neither moves a dog off poultry
Barley and oats carry the starch in all three, and barley has gluten

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

How this scores

How we score

61/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. The bag's table puts a 15kg dog between 150 and 250 grams a day, so let the waistline settle the amount.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 69.6
Farmhouse Beef 61.0
Pork 55.9

All three Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The Chicken leads on the largest meat share and the lowest estimated carbohydrate, and the Pork with Apple trails on a weaker nutritional balance.

What's in it

Dried chicken26%The largest animal share, ahead of the beef in the name.
Whole barley, potatoBarley carries gluten.
Freshly prepared beef10%Mostly water before cooking.
Naked oats, whole peas5.0% peasNaked oats stand in for the standard oats.
Chicken oil, chicken gravy
Sugar beet, dried carrot, dried parsnip1.0% each veg
Chicory root extract, citrus extracts, MOS0.3% to 0.1%
Glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin340 and 240 mg/kgThe same joint dose as the rest of the range.
Cider vinegar, spearmint, honey powder, nettle, thyme, yucca, Lactobacillus helveticus200 mg/kg and below

Chicken is the larger animal share here. Beef is the flavour, so this does not move a dog away from poultry.

Named ingredients

Dried Chicken (26%), Whole Barley, Potato, Freshly Prepared Beef (10%), Naked Oats, Whole Peas (5.0%), Chicken Oil, Sugar Beet, Chicken Gravy, Dried Carrot (1.0%), Dried Parsnip (1.0%), Chicory Root Extract (as a source of Prebiotic FOS) (0.3%), Citrus Extracts (0.2%), Mannanoligosaccharides (Prebiotic MOS) (0.1%), Glucosamine (340mg/kg), MSM (340mg/kg), Chondroitin (240mg/kg), Apple Cider Vinegar Powder (200mg/kg), Dried Spearmint (200mg/kg), Honey Powder (200mg/kg), Dried Nettle (200mg/kg), Dried Thyme (200mg/kg), Extract of Yucca Schidigera, Tyndallised Lactobacillus Helveticus HA-122 (0.005%).

Against the range

Meat: Dried chicken 26%, beef 10%; Chicken 38% in the Chicken; pork 26% in the Pork.
Oats: Naked oats; Standard oats in the Chicken.
Protein, dry matter: 29.7%; Same in the Chicken; 24.2% in the Pork.

A beef taste on a chicken base, best for a dog already fine with poultry.

All three share one base: a named meat at the front, whole barley and a potato ingredient behind it, oats or naked oats, chicken oil and sugar beet. The foot of every label matches. Glucosamine and MSM at 340 mg/kg each, chondroitin at 240 mg/kg. Chicory root FOS sits at 0.3%, MOS at 0.1% and a run of herbs at 200 mg/kg.

What varies is the meat. Chicken leads at 38%, the Farmhouse Beef puts dried chicken ahead of its beef, and the Pork with Apple sits at 26% pork on potato flake and potato protein. Chicken oil and chicken gravy turn up in the beef and pork recipes too.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

341.8 kcal/100g

Estimated using Modified Atwater factors*

Protein

27%

Fat

12%

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

Moisture

Dry weight

Protein

29.7%

Fat

13.2%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

7.7%

Carbs

45.6%

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

38.5%

Carbs

53.6%

Veg

2.6%

Oils

Other

2.3%

Pricing & size