Duck in Dog Food - Dog Nutrition DB

Duck is a novel protein used in a small number of dog foods.

Contents

Fresh Duck

If a product declares “duck” this refers to fresh duck meat and skin with or without bone, from duck parts or whole carcasses^[1].

This ingredient does not include feathers, heads, feet or entrails. If the bone has been removed it may be called “deboned duck“.

Mechanically deboned duck is commonly used in dog food, as it offers highly digestible protein with fewer minerals.

If a manufacturer wants to highlight that he included bone he may call this ingredient something like “duck with ground bone“.

Duck meat is highly digestible and duck skin is a rich source of fat. It’s also a good source of niacin and vitamin A.

Nutrients in 100 g^[7]	Duck^a	Chicken^b
Water	48.5 g	66 g
Energy	404 kcal	215 kcal
Protein	11.5 g	18.6 g
Fat	39.3 g	15.1 g
Ash	0.68 g	0.79 g
Amino acids
Arginine	0.77 g	1.17 g
Histidine	0.283 g	0.544 g
Isoleucine	0.537 g	0.924 g
Leucine	0.9 g	1.35 g
Lysine	0.912 g	1.51 g
Methionine	0.291 g	0.493 g
Threonine	0.471 g	0.767 g
Phenylalanine	0.459 g	0.721 g
Tryptophan	0.144 g	0.207 g
Valine	0.573 g	0.902 g
Fatty acids
Saturated	13.2 g	4.31 g
Monounsaturated	18.7 g	6.24 g
Polyunsaturated	5.08 g	3.23 g
– Linoleic acid	4.69 g	2.88 g
– α-Linolenic acid	0.39 g	0.14 g
Cholesterol	76 mg	75 mg
Minerals
Calcium	11 mg	11 mg
Iron	2.4 mg	0.9 mg
Magnesium	15 mg	20 mg
Phosphorus	139 mg	147 mg
Potassium	209 mg	189 mg
Sodium	63 mg	70 mg
Zinc	1.36 mg	1.31 mg
Copper	0.236 mg	0.048 mg
Manganese	0.017 mg	0.019 mg
Selenium	12.4 µg	14.4 µg
Vitamins
Vitamin C	2.8 mg	1.6 mg
Vitamin A	50 µg	41 µg
Vitamin E	0.7 mg	0.3 mg
Vitamin K	5.5 µg	1.5 µg
Thiamin	0.197 mg	0.06 mg
Riboflavin	0.21 mg	0.12 mg
Niacin	3.93 mg	6.8 mg
Pantothenic acid	0.951 mg	0.91 mg
Vitamin B₆	0.19 mg	0.35 mg
Vitamin B₁₂	0.25 µg	0.31 µg
Folate	13 µg	6 µg
Choline	31 mg	59.7 mg
Betaine	4.3 mg	7.8 mg

^ameat and skin, raw
^bbroilers or fryers, meat and skin, raw

Certain dog food manufacturers may specify the specific parts of fresh duck used in their products. Some examples include:

Duck breast
Duck hearts
Duck meat
Duck wings

Alternatively, some manufacturers may opt for easier-to-handle forms of duck, such as freeze-dried, dehydrated, or dried duck.

Fresh duck meat is a novel protein in dog food products. It’s way rare compared to evergreens such as chicken or turkey^[2].

In fact, they are so rare that a 2018 study looking for animal proteins in pet foods has found that some of the duck food samples tested were mislabeled and did not contain duck at all…^[6]

Instead, samples were positive for chicken or turkey. And an intentional substitution with cheaper ingredients is label fraud.

So buy your dog food with duck from a brand you trust!

Duck By-Products

By-products are simply the leftover animal parts after the intended product has been produced, according to the AAFCO website.

For ducks, these include all the things that are not meat.

This means duck heads, feet, and viscera, which are left once the meat intended for human consumption has been removed.

Viscera are the organs found in the body cavity, such as the heart, liver, spleen, stomach, crop, gizzard, intestines, and undeveloped eggs.

Organ meats are often labeled as duck giblets or offal.

While fresh by-products can include whole carcasses, they must be obtained through slaughter, and can not come from animals that have died from other causes. These can only be rendered into meal.

As for the quality of by-products, it can be challenging to compare them as manufacturers have so many animal parts at their disposal.

Nevertheless, pet food-grade by-products are generally nutritious and valuable ingredients, even if they are not suitable for human consumption or some perceive them as unpleasant.

Duck Meals

This is a type of poultry meal made from duck tissues and a concentrated source of duck protein in dog food.

Duck meal is made from various parts of the duck, including flesh, skin, bone, and other parts, except for heads, feet, viscera, and feathers.

Only duck by-product meal can include whole carcasses, necks, heads, feet, undeveloped eggs or other viscera. But still not feathers.

This distinction is only made in poultry meals, by the way. Other meat meals can always include by-products without being named a by-product meal.

The chemical composition of meals with or without by-products overlaps and in many cases, one is not better than the other.

Meals are made by rendering, a type of high-temperature processing. This removes moisture and separates duck fat from protein.

To ensure that duck meals contain an adequate mineral content, the AAFCO specifies a maximum Ca:P ratio of 2.2:1.

Overall, duck meal in dog food is a nutritious and valuable source of protein recycled and processed from duck leftovers.

Duck Fat

This is the duck fat that gets collected during rendering. It can be used as a source of energy and fatty acids.

And it provides a rich flavor, of course.

It is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid, followed by saturated fats like palmitic, stearic and palmitoleic acid and moderate levels of linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid.

Duck even contains small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids^[7].

Rendering at high temperatures can lead to the formation of trans fats^[3]. And duck fat is prone to go oxidation so it likely requires more antioxidants than more saturated fats such as beef tallow.

But this is a rarely-ever used ingredient in dog food, after all^[2].

Fresh Duck

Duck By-Products

Duck Meals

Duck Fat

Further Reading