The chickens on a farm eat 3 times as much grain as the turkeys do per week. The chickens and turkeys eat a total of 52 pounds of grain every week. How much grain do the chickens and turkeys each eat every week?

Question

Any help would be appreciated, thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Let t = the amount the turkeys eat.

t + 3t = 52

4t = 52

t = 13 pounds

Answer 2

so easy with a bit of algebra, but algebra in grade 4 ?

so....

suppose we put the grain in 4 buckets
(if we give 3 buckets to the chickens and 1 bucket to the turkeys, we do what it says)

then wouldn't each bucket contain 13 pounds ?
(52÷4=13)

so the chickens get 3x13 or 39 pounds
the turkeys get 13 pounds