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):
| Protein | 34% |
| Fat | 13% |
| Crude Fibre | 6% |
| Carbohydrates * | Estimated 35% |
For more information view the Billy + Margot website.
[…] D’Angelo, who speaks more about the Billy + Margot dog food range in this review, says it is common for pet foods to accentuate the name of the first ingredient on the packaging, […]
I’ve just started my pocket bully on this. He’s had soft stool and diarrhoea on lifewise, and royal canin ID. The only thing that seems to firm his stool up is our old dogs advance, which I suspect was the salmon recipe. Looking forward to seeing results, the ingredients list looks solid / trying the salmon & superfoods
Previously had my dog on a few different highly rated foods, but she seemed to be getting bad breath. She had been unwell (unrelated to this symptom) and was treated by the vet, but the breath smell stayed. Switched recently to this food and her breath is completely different and much more pleasant- only thing I changed is the food. Very happy with the single protein salmon, just wish it came in even bigger bags! 🙂
It’s probably worth noting that this brand has been a product of the Real Pet Food Co. since 2016 though they appear to have retained in some fashion the woman who founded it, where she performs some sort of PR/smiling face role for them. On a recent visit here she did a number of appearances at pet food suppliers, where it was disappointing to see people leaving with the impression that this is a scrappy alternative business producing a low quantity/high quality product as opposed to all those other nasty corporate giants.
I could see people buying this food for the bag it’s gorgeous haha, it looks really really good, I’ll have to check it out one day as I’m sure I’ll have to go to Petbarn for something.
Billy + Margot can be ordered from Net – To -Pet website , just saw it now.
Well I didn’t mean buy it, I meant check the bag out because the bag is beautiful haha.
One point in their favour is that this manufacturer is also offering three distinct single protein versions of this food (well technically it’s a single animal protein + the plant proteins discussed above) which might be helpful for people trying to solve an allergy issue.