Will smaller chickens eat smaller bugs?

[Madison320]

I just got 2 hens that are free ranging in the back yard. One is a Plymouth Rock and the other is a Star. I noticed that their beaks did not seem capable of eating small things like tiny ants and ticks. Especially the Star chicken, her beak is chipped in the front. It would be like trying to pick up a grain of sand with oven mitts.

Anyway I was thinking about adding another bird. Are there any other types of chickens that can eat smaller bugs? I'd like to have some ant and tick control.
An added bonus would be one that lays a lot of eggs.

 

[WriterofWords]

You might want to post under Behaviors for more answers. But on the matter of size, mine don't care if they are big bugs or little bugs, my birds eat bugs. They are big, little, and medium sized, and you'll see the little ones running with big bugs. My ducks eat more ants than my chickens do though.

 

[ThePolishPrincess]

Our Jap bantam is very small and lays alot of eggs. And I still notice her going after the bigger bugs...

But she's skittish and not very friendly at all.

Also, I've heard that chickens aren't too keen on ants because they have a bitter taste. I don't see mine going after them at all, actually. They usually disregard them. All chickens will try to eat all different sizes of what is out there so long as it's good to eat.

 

[BlackBart]

My Sumatras follow ant trails up the tree, eating them as they go.

They also found a dead field mouse, courtesy of "Bubbles" the cat. They spent hours chasing the Sumatra that had the mouse.
In two hours there wasn't any sign of the grey bug.........they had eaten it

 

[Mahonri]

I've seen 3 day olds devour a big fly before.