I think they eat rattlesnakes too, so good to have around the yard.
Keeping them nearby...leave a lot of corn around, attract rats and mice and give them a nice rock covered place to hide during the day and maybe they will hang around?
Small rattlesnakes, anyway. When I was about 17(?), my Dad and I came across a timber rattler every bit of 5’ long. It had been hit on a road and very badly injured - just mashed about halfway down, guts hanging out... My Dad said he’d normally let it go (this was inside a State Forest, well away from campgrounds, etc.), but this was a case of a “mercy” killing needed.
I’m a bit surprised he didn’t try to bring the dead snake home to try for supper, but, IMO Mom would have revolted. The snapping turtle the prior summer, still trying to move after being 3/4 butchered, was bad enough...
Anyway, “my” ~3 ft. Kingsnake doesn’t grow big enough to take on a 5 ft. rattler. The rattler’s immature kids would be a different story, though.
The idea is to NOT have mice and rats, which get into feed for the chickens @ night. So, the attraction for the rodents is already there, but, I’m not sure how big a snake has to be for the chickens to not attack it.