Chicken meal and by-product meals have long been some of the biggest confusing ingredients found in commercial pet food. Even veterinarians don’t really understand what the main ingredients are or why they are listed on the label. So lets take a closer inspection of what’s in your normal commercial dog food. Chicken meal is basically a powdered form of dried chicken bits and by-products.

Many commercial dog foods are still using this as their main ingredient: While the label will often state something else, such as “meat meal”, it will usually be the raw form. If you’re like most people, chances are you just assumed that there was some meat or poultry meal added. However, this is not true. There is no mention on the label that by-product meals are included in the pet food.

So what is chicken meal in dog food? It’s a by-product that could be anything from chickens (down to their feathery down) to geese, ducks, turkey or other game. The manufacturers of pet food have to use whatever they can find because it is very difficult to source out a natural source of chicken meal.

So what is chicken meal in dog food that is good for your dog? Well, it has lots of benefits for your animal but the main benefit is the source. It is an excellent source of protein. Many sources of commercially processed protein are loaded with preservatives and other chemicals that are not only unhealthy for humans but have negative effects on pets as well. By-products don’t have the same type of side effects that processed pet food may have. They are also quite easy to digest and absorb.

What is chicken meal in dog food that could harm your dog? While it is generally safe to assume that anything natural is safe, this is not always the case. You should always check with your veterinarian before feeding any commercial pet food to your canine friend. This is particularly important if you have special dietary concerns for your pet. Many commercial foods do not contain enough chicken or the right chicken meal for your pet’s needs.

If you decide that you want to feed: your pet the natural source of what is chicken meal in dog food, be sure to read labels very carefully. Look for the words “preservative” and “fortified”. You will also want to look for the words “hasted” and “artificially pure”.

These two terms are used to indicate that the product has been heat treated in a controlled environment.