Billy + Margot Dog Food Review

Billy + Margot dog food is a popular choice if you shop at PetBarn.

It’s an Australian brand, which we love, and the packaging is spattered with words like “Farm raised” and “SUPERFOOD” in CAPITAL LETTERS.

Sounds good, right?

Although the Billy + Margot range isn’t too bad, in the review I’ll cover the stuff they don’t tell you about. At the current price per kilo I find it a little more expensive than similar brands.

As of 2024 Billy + Margot have added a novel Insect Protein + Superfoods recipe which may appeal to you if you have a dog with dietary sensitivities. Insect protein (in this case Black Soldier Fly larvae) is becoming increasingly popular as a planet-friendly sustainable protein source.

Personally I can’t see an issue with insect protein even though it’s early days, and better to have protein in your dog’s diet than carbohydrates.

In this review we’ll focus on Billy + Margot Chicken + Superfood Blend, but the info will apply to all dog foods in the range.

Billy + Margot Dry Dog Food Review

What the marketing says

Billy + Margot is one of the many pet food brands made by the Real Pet Food Company. Some of their cheaper brands have been a bit iffy in the past, but feedback on Billy + Margot has been okay.

It’s nice to see percentages of animal vs. non-animal ingredients on the packaging. I prefer my dog to have more meat rather than less, and so should you.

For the Billy + Margot Chicken recipe we find there is “72% raw chicken” to “28% superfood and holistic ingredients”. They also state 40lb (18kg) of chicken is used to make a 20lb (9kg) bag, and it’s nice to have such a clear picture of how much chicken goes into making the bag.

Just note: By “chicken” they mean various parts of the chicken, and they don’t clarify what other than the photo of chicken legs on the bag. But what pet food does tell you this?

I’m sure once made into a kibble the ratio is more in favour of the non-animal ingredients given chicken has a very high moisture content which gets cooked off, but it’s nice to have an idea how much chicken was used.

In any case, it’s nice to see these facts and figures depicted on the bag.

What the ingredients really say

34% protein is really good for a dry dog food, but it’s clear from the ingredients panel this isn’t all animal-based protein, it’s also from legumes.

Chicken is the first ingredient, but expect the next four ingredients to also be significant – whole field peas, whole chickpeas, red lentils, and sweet potato.

Once cooked into a kibble theses other four ingredients will greatly affect the composition of the formula, but it’s still nice to see a fair amount of chicken and no cheap grains.

Fat is a little low at 13% (average), but I estimate carbohydrates to be around 35% which is low for a dry dog food. Your dog doesn’t really need carbs, so that’s a positive.

The main ingredients are all pretty good for a dog food, and you can definitely buy a lot worse in Australia.

There’s good points to make about some of the smaller ingredient inclusions as well. Here’s a quick summary:

• Flaxseed and coconut oil are nice to see. These will support skin and coat as well as general health and wellbeing.
• Manuka honey is another noteworthy inclusion. I expect only a small part of the recipe it’s still a great inclusion which should offer your dog better digestion as well as offer antibacterial properties.
• The range of superfoods such as kale, spinach, chia seed, ginger root, and turmeric plus other fruits and vegetables are all really nice to see. You won’t find ingredients such as this in the cheaper dog foods you find at the supermarket.
• Billy + Margot is also preserved more naturally with rosemary extract, which is another perk vs those supermarket foods.

All in all I find the Billy + Margot dog foods good from an ingredients and composition standpoint, and consumer feedback seems good too.

If you shop in PetBarn then Billy + Margot is one of the better dry dog food options.

Where to buy

Available at Petbarn

Ingredients

Ingredients of Billy + Margot dry dog food (Chicken + Superfoods Blend):

Chicken, Whole Field Peas, Whole Chickpeas, Red Lentils, Sweet Potato, Chicken Oil, Pea Protein, Flaxseed, Coconut Oil, Chicory Root Extract, Sodium Tripolyphosphate, Honey (Manuka), Yucca Shidigera Extract, Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal, Brewers Dried Yeast, Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Salt, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Folic Acid), Kale, Spinach, Carrots, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Cranberries, Chia Seed, Ginger Root, Turmeric, Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Iron Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Oxide, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate), Rosemary Extract.

Typical Analysis

Billy + Margot look to use a Typical Analysis rather than a Guaranteed Analysis. This means the figures for protein and fat may be less, and carbohydrates may be higher.

Analytical constituents of Billy + Margot dry dog food (Chicken + Superfoods Blend):

For more information view the Billy + Margot website.