One does not want rat snakes in the chicken coop, but I bet they would be handy around silos. A rat snake once came thumping down my basement stairs, and then disappeared under something. Never saw any rodents in the house in that time. Now we set traps for mice every fall. Now the city has a lot of rats, and maybe they should distribute rat snakes. The holes in the ground are everywhere. There used to be “fixed” ferrel cats in one area I know well. Never saw any rats there. Now after 2 decades of no breeding, the cats are gone, and the rats are rampant.
Yes, I’d noticed the numbers of mice out by the chicken houses at night seemed lower! Now I know why. But, I don’t want this snake deterring the chickens from properly coming in to roost at night and lay in the morning , which seems to be happening with this particular house / little group of chickens. Two of them were out “somewhere” (I couldn’t find them - very unusual) last night. But they did show up this morning. Only one went back in the chicken house (even for food treats!) though.