This sounds as so there is an issue with the birds accepting the form of the feed i.e trying to shift them from a crumble to a pellet. Also layer feed isn’t the best feed for pullets because of the large amounts of calcium, which can cause kidney issues and they don’t need that much calcium until they start laying. I would suggest trying to source some pullet grower. If you can’t source any you could try feeding some meat bird crumbles as it doesn’t contain a coccidiostat and is in a crumble form which they seem to be used to. As a last resort you could try a mixture of peck n lay and chick starter and gradually wean them onto layer feed as they get older – however please be careful with the chick starter as the birds are close to lay. Chick starter does contain a coccidiostat which causes a residue to be transferred through to the egg of the bird. The recommendation is that eggs be discarded for 5 to 7 days after birds last ate the feed with coccidiostat.