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When you read the ingredients list of your dog’s favorite food, you almost always find some ingredients that you don’t know, and a meat food like Chicken Meal may be one of them.
Although Chicken is well known, many dog owners are not sure what Chicken Meal means and if it is something their dog should be eating.
What is Chicken Feed?
Chicken Meal is a concentrated form of chicken meat and tissue that has been processed to remove most of its moisture.
This process, known as rendering, is carried out on an industrial scale and produces other well-known animal products such as Beef Tallow.
Many dog owners do not realize that whole meat ingredients such as Turkey, Chicken, or Beef contain a very high proportion of water or moisture, which is 75%.
You can see a few examples in the chart below.
As you can see, Chicken has the highest moisture content compared to other meat ingredients at about 69%.
This high moisture content means that when the meat is cooked during dry dog food recipes, most of this moisture is lost, leaving only a small portion of the meat remaining.
But the portion remains stable because of the meat food like Chicken Meal which is removed this moisture in advance.
Chicken Meal is an example of a meat ingredient that is responsible and transparent as it should be produced with ingredients made from chicken.
This is in contrast to other meat meals such as Bone and Meat Meal, which are less versatile and can be made with a variety of ingredients.
You can read more about Bone Meal in our dedicated discussion – Bone Meal In Dog Food.
Why Chicken Food Is Dog Food
Nutritious food
As we mentioned earlier, Chicken Meal has been dehydrated, which means it is a very nutritious ingredient full of protein and animal fat.
This nutrient density allows pet food manufacturers to include a smaller portion of Chicken Meal to provide more nutrition than whole chicken ingredients.
Unlike red meat ingredients, Chicken contains a very high proportion of protein compared to other lean meats, with a protein to fat ratio of 80:20, although this can vary depending on the source.
Costs
It also happens that meat meals like Chicken Meal are cheaper to buy than whole chicken ingredients.
This is because most of the Chicken that is used to produce Chicken Meal is in pieces and cuts of meat that are less desirable than the ones you are used to in the store.
Think of the leftover chicken meat and tissue on the bones of a chicken carcass after it has been butchered from the breasts, thighs and wings.
While that may not seem appealing, those scraps and trimmings are still very nutrient dense, and dogs won’t turn their noses up at them.
Storage and Security
An often overlooked reason that meat foods like Chicken Meal use whole meat ingredients is that they are less prone to spoilage once served.
This is an important feature in the pet food manufacturing industry and reduces the risk of problems that could lead to recalls.
It also allows manufacturers to more easily transport and store ingredients over time, allowing for a more efficient supply chain.
Dog Food Products Using Chicken Meal
Chicken Meal is arguably the most popular meat ingredient found in dog food recipes and is used by hundreds of brands across the industry.
Some of those brands you may have heard of include Blue Buffalo, Purina Pro Plan, Hill’s Science Diet, Royal Canin, Taste of the Wild, Diamond, Iams, Victor, Rachael Ray Nutrish, Natural Balance, American Journey, Wellness, and Canidae.
In addition, while recently researching the use of additives in dog food, we found that of the 100 most popular dry dog foods on Chewy.com, 37 of them contain Chicken Meal as an ingredient.which really emphasizes its popularity.
You can see a prime example of using Chicken Meal in a dog food recipe in the ingredient list for Victor’s Chicken Meal & Brown Rice Formula.
As you can see, Chicken Meal is the main ingredient and is present in a large portion. Given its density, this means that there is a large amount of Chicken present, providing an adequate portion of animal-based protein and fat.
However, many dog food recipes that contain Chicken Poultry often contain a mixture of Chicken and Chicken Meal, and you can see an example of this in the ingredient list of Rachael Ray Nutrish’s Chicken & Veggies Recipe.
In this example, you can see the most abundant ingredient is actually Chicken, and the Chicken Meal comes second.
However, given the nutrient density of Chicken Meal, there may be more chicken in a small portion of Chicken Meal than a large portion of chicken.
Regardless, the recipe still includes a large portion of the chicken which is important.
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