How did the livestock of the Egyptians die twice?

This could be the answer we've all been looking for. I just realised that all God's warnings to pharaoh were very specific, precise in detail. So specific were they that there is no contradiction and no apologetics needed. Exodus 9: 1-3 is God's message to Pharaoh about Pharaoh's own cattle. Vs 2 For if YOU refuse to let them go and still hold them, vs 3 behold the hand of the Lord will be on YOUR Cattle in the field etc. So the threat and the plague itself is (on this occasion) aimed directly at Pharaoh, who of course had a great amount of livestock. Vs 6 does not then contradict this when it specifies the livestock of Egypt from the livestock of the children of Israel. It's simply stating two defined areas. Pharaoh's, in the field which is in Egypt) as opposed to that which belonged to the children of Israel. Therefore nothing else in this chapter is a contradiction. Down to Vs 17-23 and you see God being specific again. This time Pharaoh has obviously had some of his remaining cattle (that which was not in the field first time around) will be targeted as well as that of Pharaoh's servents and of the people who do not fear God and take their livestock to safety. So again, more cattle, herds and livestock will actually survive if you read it carefully. Some where taken to safety. This is also how Pharoah was still able to muster war horses to chase down the Israelites. War horses would always be well kept, well protected from the elements and ready for battle. Not out in the field with all manner of livestock. Works for me, hope it works for you too!

I don't have a solid answer for this, either. But one thing to consider is what references we do have for a timeline.

Exodus 7:7 puts Moses' age at 80 when he spoke to Pharaoh.

Deuteronomy 1 and Deuteronomy 29:5 shows the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years.

Deuteronomy 34:7 shows that Moses died at age 120.

So this only gives at the very most just under 2 years for the plagues to happen.

Exodus chapters 7 thru 12 cover the plagues. There are numerous references to "Tomorrow", a reference to 7 days (Exodus 7:25), 3 days (Exodus 10:22-23) and somewhere between 5 and 15 days (Exodus 12:1-12). Not a whole lot of time accounted for during the plagues. The main thing we don't know is how long it took for Moses and Aaron to return to the Pharaoh each time. Not sure how effectively restocking the livestock would have went.

So let's try a different angle.

Several times throughout Exodus 7 thru 12, a definite division is made between the Pharaoh, his officials and the Egyptians/people. This is reflected 4 times alone in the short span of Exodus 8:3-11. The Egyptians livestock is killed in Exodus 9:6, but it's the officials that appear to be targetted in Exodus 9:20-21.

I think there is actually no confusion. In Exodus 9:3, we are told the livestocks of the field (5 animals mentioned) will experience the fifth plague so verse 6 is only saying "all the animals in the field" (emphasis mine) were affected. Also in chapter 9:19, an emphatic instruction is given that for the beasts and man to be saved from the hail, they must be taken off from the field to the home. Clearly these verses throw more light and I personally don't see the confusion.

When I read Ex 9:1-7 this morning I thought to myself, "The Egyptians are obviously going to take from the Hebrew livestock." It just seemed to flow with their cruelty as seen previously when they were filling the Nile with dead Hebrew baby boys. Assuming it's correct to understand that Egypt is now bereft of all livestock (as verse six seems to plainly say), and knowing that livestock was critically important for the kingdom, Egyptian leadership would waste no time 'commandeering' the Hebrew livestock, at least in part. So it seems reasonable to think that it was these, originally Hebrew, livestock that would have suffered in the hail.

For me the solution of a distinction between livestock 'in the field' at the time of the first plague and other sheltered livestock, although imaginable, doesn't seem quite as plausible because verse three "livestock in the field" must be read along with verse six "All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died." NIV1984

The goats being excluded from the livestock plague isn't quite as strong a hypothesis in my opinion. The Hebrew word used in 9:3 is tsown (צון), which could be used to refer collectively to sheep and goats. See for example the ESV word choice here of "flocks", or the NIV1984 rendering "sheep and goats."

Exodus 9:3, in my NASB Bible, reads

... pestilence on your livestock which are in the field ...

(emphasis added)

Those animals that were in the field are the ones that died. Animals that were not in the field were not part of the pestilence and also all the livestock that belonged to the Israelites did not die. It is then possible that the animals that were protected from being out in the field survived and also it's possible that the egyptians could have bought replacement animals from the Hebrews.