They normally live for about 4-6 year I've had some pekin bantams here for 8 years. But most standard sized chickens will live for about 4 years if free range. You can tell when a hen is getting old because its eggs will get small, some eggs may be soft shelled ect.

Six years is average.

Generally how long do hens live for? and how many of those years can they be counted on to be layers?

I have 6 Rhode Island Red Hens.

Red, Perrywinkle, Patricia, Petunia, Poppy, and Pansy, Or Red and the 5P's.

I've had Red for 5 years and the 5P's a year this past spring.

at the moment Red's outlaying the 5P's by usually 2 eggs every week. she averages on about 6 eggs a week where as three of them average at 5 and 2 average at 4 eggs per week.

I now they're the same breed, I got them from the exact same place, I know the guy well and they're all Rhode Island Red Hens.

a bit about there life style:

The girls are free range during the day, they get let out at sun rise and brought back in at sun set (about 6am-9pm) They get fed the appropriate feed and have plenty of access to fresh water.

How long should I expect Red to keep on producing? she's outlived her sisters by 2 years already.