Hen house no longer a 'safe zone'

The raccoons have put a hurt on our little flock of chickens. In August, Rouse trapped out three of the hungry critters, removing them to a piece of property we have near the river. Things stabilized for awhile. We were down to five hens. They were providing us with plenty of lovely fresh eggs. Then, over a short period of time in late winter, an assumed raccoon found it's way into the hen house multiple times, through multiple weaknesses in the fencing, and wiped us out. With each loss Rouse attempted to shore up the aging chicken wire enclosure, but in the end the old structure failed. The current design has served us well since 2007, but before we raise up another flock we will have to rebuild the chicken yard fortifications.