The scores
Open Farm Harvest Chicken Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food: A (90/100) — Humanely Raised Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Heart, Chicken Gizzards, Organic Pumpkin.
Smallbatch Freeze-Dried Raw Chicken Sliders for Dogs: A (90/100) — Skinless Chicken Necks, Chicken Backs, Chicken, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards.
How the ingredients compare
The top-five ingredients reveal the formulation split between these two products:
Open Farm: Humanely Raised Chicken, Chicken Liver, Chicken Heart, Chicken Gizzards, Organic Pumpkin
Smallbatch: Skinless Chicken Necks, Chicken Backs, Chicken, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards
Both products earn effectively the same v15 score, but the ingredient lineups tell different stories about how they got there — that is where the actual pick decision lives.
Where Open Farm pulls ahead
Third-party humanely-raised certification across all proteins: Open Farm sources chicken, turkey, beef, and lamb from third-party-certified humanely-raised producers (Certified Humane, Global Animal Partnership Step 2-4, Whole Foods Animal Welfare tier). These certifications verify animal-welfare standards across the animal’s lifecycle: pasture access, stocking density, no antibiotic or hormone use, humane handling at slaughter. This is an animal-welfare transparency dimension Smallbatch addresses through ‘pasture-raised’ sourcing claims but without the same explicit third-party certification level. Shop on Amazon →
Traceable-supplier-database lookup tool (industry-leading sourcing transparency UX): Open Farm publishes an online supplier-database tool that lets buyers enter their bag’s lot code and see the specific farms that supplied each ingredient. This is industry-leading sourcing-transparency UX. No other freeze-dried raw brand at this scale offers ingredient-level supplier traceability through a customer-facing database. For owners wanting to verify supplier sourcing or document feeding-chain for show / working-dog compliance audits, this is uniquely valuable.
Ocean-friendly seafood sustainability certification: Open Farm uses Ocean Wise or Seafood Watch Best Choice certified seafood ingredients (when present in formulas with marine protein or fish oil). This third-party sustainability certification verifies the seafood source meets ecosystem-impact standards (no overfishing of source stocks, no destructive fishing methods, no bycatch issues). Smallbatch uses pollock oil for marine omega-3 but doesn’t carry explicit Ocean Wise or Seafood Watch certification at the same emphasis level.
Where Smallbatch holds its own
Twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients (highest organic load in category): Smallbatch Chicken Sliders includes organic carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, kale, collards, parsley, blueberry, kelp, wheatgrass, rosemary, and basil — twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients. Open Farm Harvest Chicken includes organic pumpkin, organic dandelion greens, and organic coconut oil in the formulation but without the same coverage level. For owners specifically prioritizing certified-organic produce sourcing, Smallbatch is the structurally aligned pick. Shop on Amazon →
True prey-model carcass portions (skinless chicken necks at #1, chicken backs at #2): Smallbatch leads with skinless chicken necks at #1 and chicken backs at #2 — bone-in carcass portions that deliver whole-prey calcium / phosphorus ratios directly through the bone content of the carcass portions themselves. This is closer to a true ancestral / prey-model formulation than the typical ‘ground muscle + ground bone’ assembled approach. Open Farm uses humanely-raised chicken at #1 followed by chicken liver, heart, and gizzards — an excellent whole-prey assembly approach but a step removed from carcass-portion delivery.
Single-source-farm Pacific Northwest production transparency: Smallbatch operates a single-source-farm Pacific Northwest production model with direct farm-relationships, pasture-raised meats from regional family farms, and farm-to-bag traceability. Open Farm operates at larger commercial scale with multi-region supplier sourcing across North America — the brand’s traceable-supplier-database tool delivers transparency but through a different scale and sourcing-concentration model. For owners specifically prioritizing single-source-farm small-scale transparency over national-scale supply-chain depth, Smallbatch is the structurally distinct pick.
The bottom line
Tied at A/90 on the v15 rubric — structurally similar A-tier freeze-dried raw chicken recipes from independent sourcing-transparency-leading brands. Pick on the trade-off you weight more heavily. Open Farm delivers third-party humanely-raised certification across all proteins, ocean-friendly seafood sustainability sourcing, and an industry-leading customer-facing traceable-supplier-database UX. Smallbatch delivers twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients (highest organic load in category), true prey-model carcass portions (necks + backs), and single-source-farm Pacific Northwest production transparency. For owners prioritizing animal-welfare certification + supplier-database tooling, Open Farm. For owners prioritizing organic-produce + carcass-portion + small-scale sourcing, Smallbatch.