Walker & Drake

Walker & Drake Small Bite Cold Pressed: Chicken review

Name: Walker & Drake Small Bite Cold Pressed: Chicken
Brand: Walker & Drake

74.3/100Excellent

Cold pressedPuppyAdult

Flavour

Walker & Drake's cold-pressed food made small enough for a little mouth, with the recipes left as they were. The chicken and the duck reach our Excellent band and the ocean fish sits in Good. Pressed at low temperature, the pellets break down in water and do not swell.

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

Small and toy breeds. A pellet scaled to a smaller jaw is the point of the line
Little dogs that swallow first and think later
No cereals in the bowl
One bag from puppyhood to old age, as each recipe is labelled for every life stage
A dog kept off chicken: the duck keeps to one species

Worth watching

One bag size, so a very small dog takes a while to get through it and the seal matters
No moisture declared. Dry-matter figures rest on the 8% we assume for cold-pressed food
Poultry fat in the chicken and an unnamed ocean fish

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

How this scores

How we score

74.3/100Excellent

Protein and processingExcellent

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyExcellent

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for small breeds at every life stage. The maker's low activity guide puts a 3 to 5kg dog at 65 to 96 grams a day, so plan how long a 10kg bag stays sealed.

Food type

Cold pressed

Life stage

Puppy, Adult, Senior

Breed size

Small

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 74.3
Duck 72.7
Ocean Fish 58.5

Three recipes across Excellent and Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Shrinking the pellet has taken nothing from the recipes; the plant-heavy middle of each label and an undeclared moisture figure are what hold the range where it is.

What's in it

Dried chicken40%The largest meat share in the line.
Sweet potato, potatoThe starch, in place of cereal.
Brewers yeastB vitamins and a savoury note fussy small dogs tend to like.
Beet pulp
Whole egg powderA second animal protein.
Poultry fatNames no particular bird.
FOS inulin, yeast Bio-Mos, psyllium huskPrebiotics that feed the gut bacteria, and psyllium to steady digestion.
Apple, carrot, tomato, seaweed, cranberryOnly the seaweed does obvious work, as a source of iodine.
Glucosamine, chondroitin, botanicals to marigold powderJoint supplements with no printed dose: a supportive gesture.

Vitamins A through K and zinc, manganese, copper and iron, each with a per-kilo figure.

Named ingredients

Dried Chicken 40%, Sweet Potato, Potato, Brewers Yeast, Beet Pulp, Whole Egg Powder, Poultry Fat, FOS Inulin, Yeast Bio-Mos, Psyllium Husk Powder, Apple, Carrot, Tomato, Seaweed, Cranberry, Flavour Bioflavex, Glucosamine, Fenugreek, Green Tea Extract, Fennel Seed, Blueberry, Yucca Schidigera, Chondroitin, Marigold Powder

Against the range

Meat: Dried chicken, 40%; 39% duck, 35% ocean fish.
Ash: 9.0%; The lowest; 10.6% and 13.0% in the others.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 41.3%; The highest; 41.0% and 38.4% in the others.

Straightforward chicken, in a piece a small dog can pick up without a struggle.

Each recipe leads on a dried meat, weighed after drying so the share describes the pellet in the bowl, and protein is declared at 32.0% across all three. Sweet potato and potato carry the starch, with no wheat, barley or rice anywhere in the line, and psyllium husk is in every recipe. Glucosamine and chondroitin appear throughout with no dose, while the vitamin and trace element panel is itemised per kilo. What varies is the meat share, the fat source and the ash.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

360 kcal/100g

Protein

32%

Fat

Fibre

Ash

Dry weight

Protein

34.8%

Fat

9.8%

Fibre

4.3%

Ash

9.8%

Carbs

41.3%

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

44.3%

Carbs

46.5%

Veg

0.7%

Oils

1.4%

Other

7.1%

Pricing & size