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1. I'm not sure what the mortality rate is. If they have plenty of food and water, and there aren't any fights in the nest between different pairs, then you should have successful clutches every time. If they are healthy, that is. Sometimes young birds aren't good parents at first. But they get better with each clutch.
2. I don't think the gender really matters. Both are equally as easy to tame, if you spend time with them.
3. Diamond doves are easy - the males have bright red ceres around their eyes, and the hens have a more pale red-orange color. Ringneck doves you can only tell by their actions. The males will coo MUCH more (most hens never fully coo, just the occasional "laugh" or grunt while on the nest), dance/bow, and chase the hens.
4. For doves, 1 square foot per bird minimum. The more room, the better. The important thing is that they all have at least one perch and each pair has a nest box available.
5. Same thing as pigeons - seeds and grain. The only thing different is doves are smaller and cannot swallow large grains like whole corn. Wild bird seed, layer mash/chick crumbles, or a mix of any small seeds/grain. They can eat scratch feed as well, but they like variety, so I advise mixing it with bird seed. Or you can mix'em all together! They really like safflower seed, so that's a nice treat for them
