Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Recipe Dry Dog Food
The first five ingredients are Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum. One of them is a named animal protein. We put the starch at 53.9%, above the 38.51% average across the foods we hold.
Protein runs low or starch runs high for this type of food. That does not make it unsafe, it just measures lower.
How we got to 44
Five things, one hundred points, and the reason for every one. We would rather show our working than ask you to trust a number.
26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.
Estimated, 6% ash assumed.
Count of named animal proteins.
Matched against the flag list.
Manufacturer, not recipe.
The numbers, without the water
Percentages on a bag include the water in the food, so a wet food always looks lower than a dry one. Taking the water out puts any two foods on the same footing. This one is 90% dry matter.
That is 15.4 points above average, so proportionally more of the bag is starch.
Everything on the label
Printed exactly as the manufacturer lists it, heaviest ingredient first. A dog food needs very little salt, so the 12 ingredients listed after salt are present in even smaller amounts. That is the salt divider, and it is why we only weigh the top of the list.
Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal, Chicken Fat, Brewers Rice, Chicken Liver Flavor, Chicken Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Soybean Oil, Pork Flavor, Lactic Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Flaxseed, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iodized Salt*The Salt Divider. Ingredients are listed heaviest first, and a dog food needs very little salt, so everything after this point is present in an even smaller amount., Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Oat Fiber, Mixed Tocopherols for freshness, Natural Flavors, Beta-Carotene, Apples, Broccoli, Carrots, Cranberries, Green Peas
What those first ingredients actually are
The top of the list is most of the food by weight, so it is worth knowing what each one is. Green marks a named animal protein.
Chicken
The clean flesh of the chicken, with or without skin, used fresh. Roughly 70% of its weight is water, most of which is driven off during…
Cracked Pearled Barley
Pearled barley broken into smaller pieces so it cooks and digests more quickly.
Whole Grain Wheat
Wheat with the bran, germ and endosperm all left intact, rather than the refined endosperm alone.
Whole Grain Corn
Corn kernels ground with the bran, germ and endosperm still intact, rather than the degermed endosperm used in refined corn products.
Whole Grain Sorghum
Sorghum grain with its bran and germ intact, a gluten-free cereal also known as milo.
How much of this to feed
A starting point, worked out from the resting energy formula vets use and this food's own calorie density. Every dog is different, so watch their weight and adjust. Your vet's advice beats a calculator.
How it compares
Same figures, same method, put next to another recipe from Science Diet and the archive average.
| Metric | This recipe | Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large… | Archive average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Score | 44 | 43 | -- |
| Protein, water out | 22.2% | 21.1% | -- |
| Starch, water out | 53.9% | 55.0% | 38.51% |
| Named in first five | 1 of 5 | 2 of 5 | -- |
Recall history
Recalls are matched to the manufacturer, not this exact recipe. A recall on a different product still tells you something about the plant it came from.
We have not matched any FDA recall to Science Diet. We check the feed daily and this page updates when that changes.
Other flavors
More from Science Diet, scored the same way.