What does the phrase "flocks of herds" (Enos 1:21) mean? Is this a scribal error? Should it read "flocks and herds"? [Alan C. Miner, Personal Notes]
“Flocks”
According to John Sorenson, no hint is given that any flocks were taken aboard Nephi's boat (in specific contrast to the Jaredite case--see Ether 6:4). So how would they have obtained native American fowls or other animals to keep in "flocks" (Enos 1:21), or more importantly, how would they have discovered techniques for successfully caring for them? Discovery or invention of a major cultural feature like the domestication of animals is rare enough in human history that it is highly unlikely that these newcomers could simply have pulled themselves up culturally "by their bootstraps" in this way in a generation or two. [John Sorenson, "When Lehi's Party Arrived, Did They Find Others in the Land?" in the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, F.A.R.M.S., p. 6]
Thus, the mention of "flocks" might imply an existing native American population with cultural advances of animal domestication.