CSnowgren
UKC Forum Member
Registered: Apr 2009
Location: Iowa
Posts: 928 |
PM reply was too long bluedogtn so here ya go
This feed appears to me to be a mid-quality feed based on both the ingredients and the kcals. I am a stickler about feed so some of these opinions will result from my personal pet peeves so don't take it as the gospel. I don't like "meat meal". I want to know what meat is providing the bulk of protein. I don't care if its horse, but I want to know. The ground corn in this formula is providing the additional levels of protein, unfortunately corn is very hard for dogs to digest. So the % of protein on the bag can rise based on the inclusion of corn but the digestibility of it is much lower. This is where you want to pay attention to the kcals. The higher digestability, the greater the kcals. I do like the chicken fat though. My favorite source of energy by far, nothing I know of equals it in commercial dog food. I also like the preservative in this formula. Try to avoid BHA or BHT. Daily, repeated exposure has been linked to brain cancer in dogs. Yet BHA is a preservative used in human food sometimes, go figure. I don't care for any "by-product" material. This is generally the food stuffs remaining after processing and are less than desirable items, floor sweepings, feathers, individual animals unfit for human consumption, etc. While there is not a ton of grain in this formula as compared to others, it does make me wonder why beet pulp is #6 on the list. Makes me wonder if it is being used as a masking agent (to tighten stool) first and a nutritional benefit second. Beet pulp is a well known stool tightener on top of providing a nutritional benefit. Many formulators will take a cheap feed and add a few extra helpings of beet pulp in there to keep the dogs stool firm which in turn fools the owners into thinking its a quality feed because their dogs "have a nice tight stool". Coonhunters rarely advance past this stage in their thinking so they get duped into thinking their feed is "the best". Back to kcals, this formula has 4268 of metabolizable energy, the food I feed has 4710 (just to give you an idea). I also supplement on top of this putting me over 5000. The other aspect is that you say this food works for your dogs. Thats the other part, you have to believe in it based on what you see. Since you do, keep feeding it. But I don't think it would hurt to toss them a cooked chicken breast once in awhile or some tuna, jack mack, or even a hunk or red meat now and then to increase their quality protein profile. Especially if you hunt them hard. Good luck!
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