The Kibble Trails: Contestant #8 Before Grain Buffalo + Results

I had brought the bag of Before Grain Buffalo with me to Alaska since it was set to expire in January and the other brands I had stockpiled were good until at least June (or July, can't remember). After I ran out of the EVO Red Meat I brought with me I put Conker on the Before Grain, then back on the EVO when I ran out of this.


The Rundown

Before Grain was manufactured by Merrick but is now discontinued and has been replaced with updated formulas that are basically the same with only minor changes and new Merrick packaging.

Ingredients:
Buffalo Deboned, Chicken Meal, Potato Dehydrated, Turkey Meal, Canola Oil, Sweet Potato Dehydrated, (preserved with mixed tocopherols – a source of Natural Vitamin E and Ascorbic Acid, a source of Vitamin C), Yeast Culture, Natural Dried Chicken Liver, Dicalcium Phosphate, Lysine, Guar Gum, Sea Salt, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil, Choline Chloride, Acai Berry Freeze-Dried, Blueberry Dried, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Dried Venison Broth, Zinc Amino Acid Complex,Chondroitin Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Natural Venison Flavor, Chicory Root, Marigold Extract, Rosemary Extract, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Enterococcus Faecium, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Natural Celery Flavor, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Natural Color (tumeric), Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Complex, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3, Niacin, Lecithin, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Cobalt Amino Acid Complex, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Sodium Selenite.

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (Not Less Than) 32.0%
Crude Fat (Not Less Than) 15.0%
Crude Fiber (Not More Than) 3.0%
Moisture (Not More Than) 11.0%

Ingredients look good, but do take note: The buffalo is actually not the main ingredient since it is in it's raw form, and the chicken is in meal form, which is concentrated, so this is actually a chicken-based food. 
It is the first kibble (since I attempted Orijen way back in the beginning) that has a considerable amount of chicken in it. I was a bit on the fence about this, but since Conker has not shown any negative signs to cooked and highly processed chicken in quite a long time, I gave it a shot anyways.

The kibble, floating in water.

The Results

Conker did just about exactly the same as he did on the pork formula. Teeth did get a bit gunky, he smelled a bit stronger than my likes, poop was bigger than I'd like but still smallish and slightly smelly, and was green like it was with the pork formula.

I kinda liked the kibble, but not enough to feed it long-term. Maybe in rotation with something else. But since this food is discontinued, that is irrelevant anyways.

I will probably test out Merrick's new formulas when I've gotten though the kibble stock I've got on-hand and compare them to the old Before Grain line to see if there are any noticeable changes.

Note: I found a misshapen kibble in this bag, it was rather hilarious looking, but I have misplaced it and do not have a picture.