I Thought I Would Never Feed a Kadoatie - The Guide

Kadoaties (kads for short) provide a great way to get another trophy, improve your account overall, and meet other Neopians that participate in the game. Whilst in the beginning they can seem intimidating, as a new kad feeder, I can attest that feeding them is an art that simply needs practice and getting used to. All you need is an understanding of how it works, and you can become a great kad feeder yourself.

First things first, the basics of kad feeding:

A long time ago, after the kadoatery first opened, and the first kadoaties were ever fed, somebody figured out that they start to get hungry again every 28 minutes. If they do not ask for new food after 28 minutes, they "pend." A pend takes 7 minutes, so if they once again do not ask for food after those 7 minutes, they might do so after another 7 minutes, and so on, until they finally ask for food, and you wait another 28 minutes to start refreshing anew. So, lets say kads are set to refresh at :03 minutes past the hour and they don't, they might refresh at :10 minutes past the hour, then :17 minutes past the hour, etc. If they go at :17 minutes past the hour, the new refresh time is set at :45 (17+28) minutes past the hour. These times are usually posted on a board titled "Kadoatery Feeding Times & Lists" in the 'Games' section of the Neoboard Index.

Although the new times are always set 28 minutes after a feed, it is important to note that it's unlikely that kads will refresh at that time (without pending at least once). The time is posted because there is a slight chance that it might happen, but legend has it that kads have refreshed again exactly 28 minutes past the last refresh only a few times out of millions of times. Keep this in mind if you need some extra time to get something done between refreshes. :)

UPDATE: Kadoaties used to refresh at :20 seconds past the posted minute if they were to refresh - so if they didn't, you would automatically wait for the next pend. This is no longer the case. Kads can now refresh at any point up to 120 seconds after the posted time, which means you should continue to refresh for 1-2 minutes after the posted minute hits. Kads tend to go consistently late by a few seconds; for instance, let's say that kads go at 1:24:30PM NST, and the new main is set for :52. This means that the new main will probably go at least :30 seconds past the minute (most likely a few added seconds, sometimes 10-20 seconds, sometimes a little early). Just be prepared to refresh around that time, and just to be safe, start early and stop refreshing when you're sure that the kads aren't going to refresh (I usually give myself a whole minute). On the time-keeping boards, the time-keepers usually add an extra minute to the times once kads refresh at least :20 seconds past the next minute they were supposed to refresh. For example, if kads are set to refresh at :28 minutes past the hour, and they actually go at --:29:25, the new main should be set at :57, not :56. If you stick around for a few mains, you will get a better idea of the timing, and get more comfortable with time keeping for yourself.

Mains & Minis:

When kadoaties refresh, they are in unison referred to as a "main." If a straggling kadoatie is left behind during a refresh (no one feeds it), and it stays hungry for some time, once it is fed, a mini is initiated. Minis are essentially a miniature kadoatery cycle. If they do not merge with the main, they will refresh on their own, separate from the rest of the kadoaties, in the very bottom right corner of the kad board. This means that a lone kad might ask for a new food, and once it is fed, that kad can only be fed at least 28 minutes later, just like a regular cycle of feeding. If it does not refresh after 28 minutes, it is also on 7 minute pend cycles. These minis can last for some time, but eventually merge with the "main" and then the kads will refresh as a whole once again. So if a post on the Times & Lists board says "main & mini pending @ :53" that means that either just one kadoatie can refresh, or the whole lot of the already-fed kadoaties.

Styles of feeding:

1. Inventory feeding: this refers to filling your inventory with kad food, and once kads refresh, hoping that one of them will ask for one of the foods in your inventory. This can be highly effective because once you build up an invent, all you need to do is click on a kadoatie if it asks for one of the foods you own, and you are very likely to be the first person to feed it. However, the list of kad food is very, very, very long and the chances of you having that food on a refresh are not very high. I tried to use this style when I first started feeding, but quickly parted ways with it. Keep in mind that feeding kadoaties with more than 50 items in your inventory is considered cheating.

2. SDB feeding: in my opinion, this style is mainly for the more experienced feeders. Essentially, you fill up your safety deposit box (SDB) with as much kad food as you want, and once the kads refresh, if you own the food in your SDB, you take it out and try to feed it to the kadoatie. This method requires less clicks and you spend less NP on kad food because you can take the time to find the cheapest items on the shop wizard, but you do have to spend a lot of time building your SDB with kad food.

3. Wiz feeding: this is the most practical, simple way of feeding kads. In this method, you wait for the kads to refresh, pick any one you want, look it up on the shop wizard, buy it, and try to feed it to the kadoatie. Simple, but takes a lot of perfecting and speed. Make sure you have a budget and a limit on how much you would spend on kad food, and then make sure you have enough neopoints on hand for all feeds. You don't want to miss out on a kad just because you forgot to take NP out. Also, make sure you have under 50 items in your inventory because you won't be able to buy any items if you already have 50. I keep my inventory tidy and cleared of junk because kad food piles up when someone else feeds the kad I'm going for before me, so the number of items in my inventory rises throughout the day.

Tips and advice:

Find what works for you. You can try a mix of all three feeding methods.

Have patience. You need lots and lots of patience, especially if you're a beginner. You're not going to feed every time you try to. Other people will beat you. There are people that have been doing this for years, and they are hard to compete with. But don't give up - you won't feed any kads that way. Also, kads can pend for long periods of time. If you spend over an hour watching the kads and waiting for them to go, and then don't end up feeding one, it can feel very frustrating. Stay positive. Once you get the hang of it, the reward will be worth it.

Observe and learn. You pick up on a lot of things and understand them better with experience.

Practice, practice, practice. Kad feeding is a game, and just like other games, you get better with practice. While at first you might seem like you're not cut out for it, you might start to notice that you're doing better with time.

Feed around the times 9PM - 6AM NST if you can. Less users online = less users feeding = less competition = higher chances. However, they will probably also pend longer during these times.

Start refreshing early and refresh until you're certain that the kads did not refresh. Once you get some experience, it will be easier to predict when they will actually refresh.

Find ways to make it more fun. Get your friends into it or find a board with other feeders to discuss successes and failures, maybe even make your own. People who kad feed love talking to other people who kad feed. Set personal goals.

Set alarms on your phone to help remind yourself when to start refreshing.

Look for ways to cut down on how long it takes for you to feed. Try maneuvering between tabs on your browser even without kads refreshing to improve your speed.

Pay attention to costs of foods so that you start getting an idea of what to avoid. Certain foods such as Kadoatie Biscuits, Sparkling Ice Lolly, Grey Eggs and Bacon, Crystal Crunch, and much more are all known for being UBs (unbuyables - you can't find them on the shop wizard). If you can recognize foods like that, you'll know to not go for those kads when they refresh. Don't overspend your money on feeding an expensive kad (unless you want to).

Stay concentrated on feeding so that you don't miss a feed you've been tracking. Missing a feed unintentionally is frustrating, so try not to get caught up in whatever you're doing in between pends.

Check all the links posted on the time keeping board. They have in-depth guides, kad food lists, and unofficial high score tables. These resources will help you familiarize yourself with all the components of kad feeding. For example, if you know the users with high scores and see that they are online feeding, avoid the spots they go for because they are likely to continue feeding there.

The time system is confusing. The way I learned it is by being a time keeper on the boards myself, and when I messed up, other people would help me and correct me, and that's how I picked up on how it works.

Remember that the time keeping board is not very approving of chatting. The purpose of the board is to keep lists of foods and times that kads are set to refresh. If you have questions, neomail other users or make boards of your own. I have gotten many neomails and chatted on many other boards myself - people are very willing to help you out.

Trophies:

Feed 1 kad - Bronze Trophy

Feed 10 kads - Silver Trophy

Feed 25 kads - Gold Trophy