¹₃ of the number of chickens that Farmer Will had was equal to ³₅ of the number of chickens that Farmer Paul had. When Farmer Will sold 300 of his chickens and Farmer Paul bought another 40, the ratio of the number of chickens that Farmer Will had to the number of chickens Farmer Paul had become 7 : 5. What was the total number of chickens that the 2 farmers had at first?

	Make p the same (1) x 5 = (3)	Farmer Will (1)	Farmer Paul (2)	Make p the same (2) x 7 = (4)
Before	45 u	9 u	5 u	35 u
Change	- 1500	- 300	+ 40	+ 280
After	35 p	7 p	5 p	35 p

Make the numerators the same.
1x33x3 Farmer Will's chickens = 3x15x1 Farmer Paul's chickens
39 Farmer Will's chickens = 35 Farmer Paul's chickens

45 u - 1500 = 35 u + 280
45 u - 35 u = 280 + 1500
10 u = 1780

1 u = 1780 ÷ 10 = 178

Total number of chickens that the 2 farmers had
= 9 u + 5 u
= 14 u
= 14 x 178
= 2492

Answer(s): 2492