Lily's Kitchen Adult Chicken & Duck: Review and Who It's For
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Start with the sums on the label. Lily's Kitchen Adult Chicken & Duck Grain-Free lists 42% chicken and duck (fresh chicken 31%, freshly prepared duck 8%, chicken liver 3%), then sweet potatoes at 29%, then whole peas at 6.5%. Meat and sweet potato together account for most of the recipe, and everything else is in small amounts. That is the recipe in a sentence, and the rest of this review is about whether it suits your dog.
On Amazon.co.uk the 2.5 kg bag shows 4.6 out of 5 from 3,508 ratings at the time of writing.
What else is in there
After the peas come whole lentils, pea protein, flaxseed, egg, potato protein, chicken gravy and minerals. A botanical and herb blend is listed at 1% and named in full: alfalfa, chickweed, cleavers, goldenrod, nettles, seaweed, dandelion root, celery seeds, milk thistle, burdock root, marigold flowers and rosehips. Salmon oil, carrots, apples, cranberries and spinach follow.
The listing also names two added extras. One is prebiotics: mannan oligosaccharides at 1.3 g/kg and fructooligosaccharides at 0.8 g/kg. The other is a joint care mix, with glucosamine at 175 mg/kg, methylsulfonylmethane at 175 mg/kg and chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg. Those figures are per kilogram of food, not a daily dose. The listing says the food supports digestion, skin and coat, and joints, and describes the recipes as vet approved. Those are the brand's claims, and the listing does not say what evidence sits behind them. If joint support is your main concern, our look at whether dog joint supplements work is a useful reality check on what to expect from any of this.
One thing the listing is clear about: no meat meal. The listing describes the meat and offal as freshly prepared.
The "grain-free" asterisk
The headline says grain-free, and the allergen field lists the recipe as free from barley, dairy, gluten, soy and wheat. But a footnote on the listing says the food is made in a factory that handles grains, so traces may be present. For most dogs that makes no difference. For a dog with a strict grain or gluten problem, it does, and the manufacturer is the one to ask. We explain why "grain-free" is less informative than it sounds in grain-free versus grain-inclusive food.
That allergen field lists what the recipe is free from, not what it contains. It contains chicken, duck, egg and salmon oil, so it is not a single-protein food and not a fit for dogs allergic to poultry, egg or fish.
Fussy eaters and sensitive stomachs
The listing does not make any claim about fussy eaters. What it offers are fresh meat, chicken liver and chicken gravy, which some owners find appealing to dogs with small appetites, but that is a possibility and not a promise. The prebiotics are described as supporting digestion. They are not a treatment for a dog with a persistently upset stomach, and a dog with recurring loose stools or itching should see a vet before the diet is blamed or changed.
Practical details and awkward points
The 2.5 kg bag is a small pack. That suits a trial or a small dog, but a large dog would go through it quickly. To estimate cost per day, divide the pack price by the days the bag lasts at your dog's feeding amount. The listing text we reviewed gives no feeding table or calorie figures; its directions say only to store at room temperature, so use the bag for amounts.
The age wording is unusual: the listing describes it as a food for adult dogs from 4 months, which sits oddly alongside the "adult" label. If you are feeding a young dog, check the bag and ask your vet, as puppies have different needs. Legumes also feature heavily (peas, lentils, pea protein), and that is worth raising with your vet if you plan to feed a grain-free recipe long term.
It is also a B Corp brand according to the listing, though that says more about the company than about what is in the bowl.
How it compares
If you are choosing between natural-brand kibbles, Forthglade against Lily's Kitchen sets them side by side. For a wider survey of the category and what "natural" does and doesn't tell you, see our natural dry food roundup.
Where we land
Lily's Kitchen Chicken & Duck is a sensible grain-free option for a healthy adult dog without a poultry, egg or fish problem, and for owners who like a clearly meat-led list with no meat meal. Choose something else if your dog needs a single protein, a strictly grain-free kitchen, or a bigger bag. If it fits, the 2.5 kg bag is a small-commitment way to see how your dog takes to it.
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