Poultry Meal in Dog Food - Dog Nutrition DB

This article will explain how poultry meal in dog food is made and its purpose in our pet’s food.

Contents

What is Poultry Meal?

Poultry Meal is the rendered product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses of slaughtered poultry or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, and viscera^[7].

Poultry is mainly comprised of turkey and chicken but can include either domesticated birds such as goose or duck.

It is basically the same as poultry by-product meal, although this ingredient may also include heads, feet, and viscera.

However, no other quality criteria are specified and regarding its chemical composition, there is a lot of overlap between these ingredients^[5].

Poultry meals are a means of recycling all the slaughterhouse waste that is not used for human consumption into a nutrient powder.

The raw material is thoroughly cooked at high temperatures, pressed and drained to drive out water and fat from the raw bone and tissue material.

The separated melted fat is sold as poultry fat, while the solid protein cake is crushed and ground into powder.

Poultry Meal Nutrients

There are different quality grades of poultry meals available to manufacturers. Feed-grade meals are used for livestock feeding and are higher in minerals and lower in protein.

From a nutritional standpoint, there is not even a big difference between a poultry meal and a poultry by-product meal^[5].

In a 2000 study, the protein in poultry meal was found to be a little more digestible compared to poultry by-product meal^[2].

This might have been due to more connective tissue from feet and beaks in the by-product meal which can be hard to digest.

But the poultry meals used in pet foods today are highly digestible and typically contain less than 14% ash and less protein from poor sources to make them suitable for dogs^[1,3].

But overall, both ingredients are very similar and come in different qualities, mainly due to the quality or freshness of raw materials and different rendering protocols^[4].

Poultry Meal in Dog Foods

Poultry meal is a very common ingredient in dog foods.

Poultry protein meal is commonly included at 5 to 40% and can contribute in excess of 85% of the dietary protein and 30% of the dietary fat.
USA Poultry Meal 2006^[6]

But there are some factors that make poultry meal a somewhat controversial ingredient in the eyes of some dog owners.

First of all, poultry meals are highly processed nutrient powders made from waste products. They are cheaper than fresh meat and use raw materials that are not for the squeamish.

They are also produced from unspecified animal sources, which contributes to their lack of transparency and traceability and doesn’t exactly make them the best candidates for a clear label.

And there is an obvious discrepancy between a pile of brownish protein flour compared to the chicken breast or turkey leg pictured on many dog food packages, right?

But still, poultry meal in dog food is a very cost-effective option to add lots of animal protein at a time.

The same amount of fresh poultry meat shrinks considerably when processed into kibble and provides much less actual protein.

All in all, protein meals are not bad ingredients. They are just not as wholesome and can’t compare with the quality of fresh meat. But they are still animal-sourced ingredients.

If your goal is to provide lots of animal protein and the benefits of fresh meat, maybe consider a dog food that features both?

And if you prefer to know a little more about the ingredients in your dog’s everyday diet you can choose a product with named meals like a chicken meal instead.

What is Poultry Meal?

Poultry Meal Nutrients

Poultry Meal in Dog Foods

Further Reading