¹₄ of the number of chickens that Farmer Luis had was equal to ³₅ of the number of chickens that Farmer Valen had. When Farmer Luis sold 300 of his chickens and Farmer Valen bought another 40, the ratio of the number of chickens that Farmer Luis had to the number of chickens Farmer Valen had become 5 : 3. What was the total number of chickens that the 2 farmers had at first?

	Make p the same (1) x 3 = (3)	Farmer Luis (1)	Farmer Valen (2)	Make p the same (2) x 5 = (4)
Before	36 u	12 u	5 u	25 u
Change	- 900	- 300	+ 40	+ 200
After	15 p	5 p	3 p	15 p

Make the numerators the same.
1x34x3 Farmer Luis's chickens = 3x15x1 Farmer Valen's chickens
312 Farmer Luis's chickens = 35 Farmer Valen's chickens

36 u - 900 = 25 u + 200
36 u - 25 u = 200 + 900
11 u = 1100

1 u = 1100 ÷ 11 = 100

Total number of chickens that the 2 farmers had
= 12 u + 5 u
= 17 u
= 17 x 100
= 1700

Answer(s): 1700