Black Hawk Air Dried Dog Food Review
The Black Hawk dry dog foods have been popular in Australia for many years, and I see the reason being a good balance of affordability and quality – i.e. it’s better than most kibbles, yet still relatively affordable for average Aussies (like myself) who don’t earn big oil and gas bucks.
Air Dried dog food is almost always much better than kibble, and the fact the Black Hawk Air Dried range contains 94% meat or fish tells us just that. Most kibble barely has any meat.
We know cooking food at high temperatures kills nutrients, but that’s what the kibble making process is (it’s called extrusion). Some ingredients, like meat meals are actually cooked twice at high temperatures, and usually vitamins and minerals are dusted on post-processing.
Air-dried is much better, because it doesn’t blast the nutrients with all that heat – and I’m sure you’ll see the benefit in that!
It has to be said the Black Hawk Air Dried recipe isn’t as good as the world renowned and highly reputable ZIWI Peak air dried, or Australia’s premium air dried brand Eureka, but it’s also cheaper, and still a better option than kibble.
I’ll explain more below…
Black Hawk Air Dried Review
The downside before the upside
Keep in mind the Black Hawk air dried recipes are 40%+ protein, 30% fat, and only 5.5% carbohydrates or less (which is fantastic compared to all kibbles), it’s worth covering a couple of small points.
Firstly, at present there are only small bags (450g), which work out more per kilo than the larger bags from ZIWI and Eureka. I expect that will change as the brand takes off (it’s still early days). If you have a small breed or simply want some tasty training treats, I doubt it will be a problem.
Secondly, it’s not so much the recipe is more basic than other air-dried dog foods, it’s the use of glycerin, maltodextrin, and lecithin. These are all in small amounts, but they’re worth considering if you want to weigh up cost versus other air dried brands.
To cover those quickly, glycerin (or glycerol) is a sugar alcohol, used as a sweetener, but also makes an air-dried pet food more moist and appealing. I see people complain about other air-dried food being “too dry”, which can become more of an issue if a dog doesn’t take to it over their regular kibble. But I expect from reading that, you’ll realise it’s not exactly a nutritious addition, and as the 3rd ingredient may mean a few percent of the formula.
Lecithin shouldn’t cause any harm unless your dog suffers dietary sensitivities. I expect it’s added as an emulsifier, so purely functional rather than nutritional.
There isn’t much maltodextrin in the recipe, but it’s a highly processed high-GI starch, and not ideal for dogs who suffer pancreatitis, obesity, diabetes, and so forth, and not great (or necessary) for dogs in general. So why is it used? Likely to bind the food and give it texture.
That’s the bad bits covered. It may have put you off, but I expect your dog won’t suffer any real issues. It’s a good example of why feeding a variety of dog foods is a good idea – it balances a diet – and it’s also a good indicator why ZIWI Peak and Eureka cost more.
Oh, and this is a low fibre dog food, so that may matter to you. Young and healthy dogs shouldn’t need much fibre when they eat the right diet of meat and organs, but older dogs can benefit from more fibre.
Now for the good bits!
We’ve covered how air-dried dog food is better than kibble, which makes me a fan of this style of feeding our dogs. It’s also really convenient compared to feeding raw or fresh foods which take up your entire freezer.
It’s a high protein, high fat food, and this is great news for a normal healthy dog – Good for health, energy, and wellbeing.
The main ingredients are meat and organs (94%+), which your dog will benefit from the most (and far more than the starchy carbs which dominate kibble recipes).
There’s a small amount of green-lipped mussel in the recipe, which is always a great addition to a dog food for joint health. Kelp is a benefit too, which looks to be a fairly insignificant inclusion, and flaxseed and inulin are beneficial in small amounts.
But that’s about it, really. Vitamins and minerals looks to be a bog standard pack or premix, and natural antioxidants – although stating the word natural – is still ambiguous. I like to know what exactly these things are, and I expect you do too?
To summarise, the Black Hawk Air Dried range may not be the best in the category, but compare this high protein, high fat food made of 94%+ meat and organs to any kibble, and it will put that kibble to shame.
Where to buy
The Black Hawk Air Dried range of dog food is available at various retailers:
Ingredients
The ingredients of Black Hawk Air Dried Dog Food (Air Dried Chicken Recipe):
Chicken, chicken liver, glycerine, essential vitamins, minerals & amino acids, lecithin, flaxseed, green-lipped mussel, inulin, sweet potato, maltodextrin, kelp, natural antioxidants.
Guaranteed analysis
The guaranteed analysis of Black Hawk Air Dried Dog Food (Air Dried Chicken Recipe):
| Protein | 40% (min) |
| Fat | 30% (min) |
| Crude Fibre | 0.5% |
| Carbohydrates * | Specified as 5.5% maximum |
