Raccoons Killed My Chickens

Went out today to get the eggs and a raccoon had gotten into the pen and killed four. Know it was a raccoon because the heads were all gone and part of their breasts.

I had a covered shed style roof over their run and the run is built with galvanized hardware cloth. What I never did was close the 8" gap between the top of the hardware cloth (top of the walls of the run, about 5' off the ground) and the roof rafters. I have to assume that's how the raccoon got in there. No holes anywhere, no rips, the door was locked.

Went out an put some temporary plywood strips to cover the gaps in the front and side, but there are still 4" gaps on the backside where the 2x4 rafters lay on top of the back wall.

Can a raccoon get in those 4" gaps? I've also heard putting rags soaked in ammonia will keep the raccoons away. Any thoughts?

In 2.5 years I haven't had a single chicken die from a predator - I suspect the frigid temps we've been having on the East Coast is causing them to come out of their dens for calories.

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Raccoons Killed My Chickens