Coons, Round Two

We were just talking about headed up to bed. I heard something, but couldn't put my finger on it at first. Then it dawned on me. It was the terrified clucks of our hens, the sound distorted from bouncing off the neighbor's house. Jared and Rowdy ran out there to see what was going on: Six of our eight hens were in the run, crying. He looked in the window of the coop to find two coons! But couldn't see the other two hens. He feared they were already dead. He called me out to help. I watched the coons while he got 'his babies' to safety - putting them in the small mobile run he'd built for them. Rowdy isn't quite the attack dog type, so although he went into the coop, and clicked like he was on the hunt, he didn't actually do anything. To be fair, the coons were on top of the laying boxes, out of his reach. So Jared got him out of there and tried to beat the coons with a garden tool. He later admitted to it being a sort of odd situation: he's never tried to beat an animal to death. I was shaking at this point, just completely freaked out and ... just yuck! Finally, they actually got out of the coop, and back under the coop where they came from. Helpful since we couldn't figure out how they had gotten in the other night yet. We spent some time trying to scare them out of the small space under the coop and finally they got out and ran off.
Jared got into the coop and nailed the run door shut. We figured this would be the safest bet for the girls and he could come out in the morning and open it back up for them.
Then, out of nowhere: a third!! It was clinging to the opposite side of the run at the top. Again, Jared let Rowdy in. Who sniffed around a bit, actually found the thing and sniffed it. The coon snarled and growled, scaring Rowdy back out of the coop. Helpful. So we tried to get that one out too, but realized it really didn't matter since the hens would be safe in the house now. I held the flash light while Jared picked up each of his  girls and comforted them before putting them back into the house. (So sweet!) We examined each of them to be sure they weren't hurt. We did find Chicken Bicken to have a little blood on the front of her comb, but she didn't seem bothered by it.
So, what's the plan? Jared is going to bring home some sheet metal scraps from work tonight. He's going to dig down along all sides of the coop and bury the sheet metal so that nothing can get through. Hopefully this takes care of the problem. We're also trying to obtain a BB Gun for future issues.
Of course, after all the excitement, neither of us could go to bed. So we ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watched an episode of The Office. THEN went to bed.