Non poisonous snakes do just as good a job on rats and you don’t have to worry about getting bit.
Got 2 chicken snakes and a king snake around the house got the mice & rat control contract.
I don’t care to step on a copperhead when I walk out of the house and I don’t care to waste my time moving it to another location on my property because I might step on him there too, so I kill him and solve that problem.
You mean venomous? While king snakes are voracious feeders, they and rat snakes, which you call a chicken snake can handle some but not all rodents.
But, it’s your life, not mine... do as you see fit. I have black rat, pine, king, garter, and rattlers on my property. I have 3 dogs and not one issue at all.