Canidae Heartland Farm Raised Chicken Ancient Grains: our recipe review

Canidae · Heartland Farm Raised Chicken Ancient Grains · Dry food · Not stated

On the facts printed on its own label, Canidae Heartland Farm Raised Chicken Ancient Grains scores 79 out of 100 on our rubric: a solid mid table label. The panel opens with Deboned Chicken, and the first ingredient signal earns 20 of its 20 points. At 25% crude protein it ranks 18 of the 30 Canidae recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 10%.

At 456 kcal a cup it is calorie dense: small measuring errors become extra meals over a month, so this is a food to weigh rather than eyeball. The brand carries one FDA posted recall event in our check, set out below with its date.

The panel runs to 48 ingredient lines. 5 of them are animal source lines and 10 are plant lines. The first added fat appears at line 14, so 13 lines sit ahead of it in the recipe by weight. Salt appears at line 21 of 48: ingredients listed after salt are present in small amounts, a standard reading aid for long panels. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 23; the 26 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

Panel for panel, this is the same recipe as Heartland Puppy, sold as Dry food: the ingredient lines match. What actually differs is the life stage it is written for (Not stated here) and the calorie line. Between the two, choose on format and on the size of dog in front of you, not on the ingredient list, because the lists are the same list.

The label facts

How the score breaks down

Ingredient notes: the first ten, one by one

Definitions below are written from AAFCO's ingredient definitions in our own words. They describe what an ingredient is, never what a brand claims about it. Names that appear in our ingredient dictionary link to it; the dictionary counts how many scored recipes carry each ingredient.

• Deboned Chicken. Deboned Chicken is the named meat in fresh form. Panel order is set by weight before cooking, and fresh meat is mostly water, so its share of the finished food is smaller than its place at the top suggests.
• chicken meal (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate). chicken meal (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate) is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• brown rice. brown rice is a milled grain used for energy and to bind the kibble. Whole grain forms keep the bran and bring gentle fiber with them.
• barley. barley is a whole grain rich in beta glucan fiber, which feeds gut bacteria and slows digestion.
• whole grain sorghum. whole grain sorghum is a plant ingredient, bringing energy, fiber or plant protein to the panel.
• millet. millet is a plant ingredient, bringing energy, fiber or plant protein to the panel.
• peas. peas is a legume bringing starch, fiber and plant protein together. Legumes help a panel reach its protein figure without meat, which is worth knowing when you read the protein line.
• dried yeast. dried yeast sits on the panel as a functional ingredient: a binder, supplement or processing aid rather than a nutrient base.
• pork meal (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate). pork meal (source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate) is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• oatmeal. oatmeal is a whole grain that digests slowly and brings soluble fiber, a steady energy source in grain inclusive recipes.

The brand's recall record

2012: Four Canidae dry dog foods (All Life Stages, Chicken Meal and Rice, Lamb Meal and Rice, and Platinum) were recalled in May 2012 after Salmonella was found at the Diamond Pet Foods plant in Gaston, South Carolina, where those foods were made. The FDA posted the recall notice.

The 2012 event sits with the contract manufacturer that made those dry foods, and it is old. We count it because quality systems belong to the maker, and we say plainly that it was a manufacturer plant event so readers can weigh it fairly.

See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.

Other Canidae recipes we scored

Those are the twelve highest scoring of the 29 other Canidae recipes we scored. The full comparison, flagship review included, is on the Canidae brand review.

Feeding it

Switch foods gradually over about a week, mixing more of the new food into the old each day. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight, and this recipe's calorie line above is the number it needs.

What that means at the bowl, for a typical neutered adult (resting energy 70 times body weight to the power 0.75, times 1.6; treats come out of the same budget):

Puppies, pregnant dogs and very active dogs need more; older and weight watching dogs need less. The calculator linked above adjusts for those cases.