Can a peahen be too broody?

[SunBaked]

A little backstory: My peahen Momma Jane hatched some peachicks last week. One was dead in the middle of the pen the first day she got off the nest. One was dead half out of the shell and the other kept standing against the fence and the dogs wouldn't stop goin after it through the fence and one of the other peahens kept pecking at it. I brought it and the cold half developed eggs she had left in the nest inside. Thankfully the eggs are still alive (very wiggly when candled and 3 have since hatched) in the incubator and the peachick is okay.

The other 3 peahhens (the Plain Janes are their names) kept laying eggs the whole time she was sitting and she stole their eggs, thats why so many were left when she got up. They kept laying eggs in the empty nest after I cleaned it. Poor Momma Jane couldn't help herself and as of this morning is now sitting again. She was only off the nest a week.

My question is can she sit too long? Even though I put food and water next to her every day while she was sitting I know she wasn' t eating as much as usual. I'm worried sitting twice won' t be good for her. Should I scare her off the nest and take the eggs so she won't get unhealthy from sitting too long? She is my favorite pea that I've had the longest and would hate to risk her health. Will she hate me if I end up chasing her off?

 

[Kedreeva]

She shouldn't hate you, but it's strange that she would not mommy the chicks after they hatched...

 

[SunBaked]

Thankfully she was off the nest this afternoon when I got home so I don' t have to bother her. Maybe she was just giving those eggs a test sit.

She was mothering the baby but didn' t shoo it away from the fence where the dogs were tearing at the wire and trying to dig under. I don' t think they liked the noise it was making because they usually don't mess with the birds as long as they are behind a fence. Then Sister Janes were tag teaming Momma Jane. One would distract her while the other tried to get in a peck at the baby. I had Momma Jane in her own pen with the babies last year but it's being used for a quarantine pen for a pair I got a few weeks ago and my other one isn't secure enough to keep snakes out and the baby from walking between the wires

I was hoping the other peahens would ignore the babies.

 

[Kedreeva]

Quote:
Not sure how it is with peas, but if they're like any of the other birds we have, they will never just leave the babies alone. Mom and babies have to be separated for a while. Makes you wonder how any of them ever did it in the wild >.>