Well, my worst coop faced west. Hot in summer, cold in winter. Will never do that again, hated it, tore it down. Now, one coop still faces north, with windows on east and north sides. Its darker than I prefer in the afternoons and evening comes early to it. I only use it as a brooder ( with heat lamps ). I have observed that given a choice, my chickens do not prefer to go into a dark house. Another coop faces north, but this one I built using clear corrugated plastic for the entire east and west walls, and the front is all hardware cloth so its light all day. Back wall is plywood. The chickens enjoy going in it. My favorite coops face south and are on a south edge of my ( deciduous ) woodlands. Long days of winter sun, cool summer shade. Perfect. Two coops are close to my house, within fifteen feet, and they don't smell. I ask friends on a regular basis, just in case I've become inured to the smell. But I clean a LOT. Obsessively so perhaps, because of the coops locations, which are wonderfully convenient for husbandry and chicken observation, but the downside is having to work harder to keep everything clean.
Summer shade and winter sun are the best. Think hard about placement. Where would YOU want to spend your time? Other than their ability to handle cold better, I don't find their needs and desires to be so different from mine in terms of physical comfort. They like a cool place to hang out when its hot. A secure place to sleep. To be able to lay about in the sun on a winter day.
