In Exodus 16 and Numbers 11 the Israelites grumble about having no meat. This doesn’t make sense, since they left Egypt with their livestock—presumably thousands of cattle, sheep and goats. If they wanted meat all they had to do was kill some livestock. – T.C.
Excellent question—one I’ve never considered. Of course the Israelites would have been forbidden to eat the animals unless they were sacrificed, since they were set aside for holy use. There may well have been fewer animals than you estimate. I don't have a solid answer for you at this time. But I did find this webpage to be helpful: https://www.gotquestions.org/Israelites-eat-flocks.html.
As the account continues, the Lord provided them with meat—quail (Exod 16:13; Num 16:31). Also noteworthy: grumbling was one of the serious sins of the Israelites, involving as it did a lack of trust in God. See 1 Cor 10:10.
