Cervical dislocation (breaking the neck) is one choice that some people certainly do use. I do not know that it is any more humane or less stressful for the birds than slitting the jugular and bleeding them out. If you don't do it properly, a failed attempt at breaking the neck can be very painful for the chicken and can take longer than cutting the jugular. Done right, cutting the jugular vein results in the bird passing out before their brain has time to process the thought that "gee, that kinda hurt" from the cut. It is very fast and the birds remain calm throughout. Anyone who's ever lost a life-threatening amount of blood in a very short period of time can assure you that it doesn't really hurt at the time of the injury (it's only after the EMT/ER docs get you stabilized and you start to recover from the injury that the pain sets in). And anyone who's ever cut themselves with a very sharp blade can also attest to the fact that you don't feel the pain of the cut until long after the blood starts gushing.
As for raising your own being cheaper, that's almost never the case. There's the initial investment of purchasing the chicks or chickens. Then the cost of building a coop to keep them safe. And the cost of feeding them to the point of lay or butchering age. Then there are the incidental costs like electricity to run the heat lamp for the brooder until the chicks feather out and bedding for the coop and/or nest boxes. Once you add all those costs up, there's no way the average back yard chicken keeper can even come close to what you could get factory farmed eggs or chicken for at the grocery store. If you're buying only organic, free range chicken or eggs then maybe you could grow your own for the same or even a little less than what you are paying to buy it from someone else. But for most of us, the difference in taste, texture, and peace of mind knowing exactly where our food came from, how the animals were treated, and what goes into (and what doesn't go into) our food is worth the extra cost of producing it ourselves.
As for raising your own being cheaper, that's almost never the case. There's the initial investment of purchasing the chicks or chickens. Then the cost of building a coop to keep them safe. And the cost of feeding them to the point of lay or butchering age. Then there are the incidental costs like electricity to run the heat lamp for the brooder until the chicks feather out and bedding for the coop and/or nest boxes. Once you add all those costs up, there's no way the average back yard chicken keeper can even come close to what you could get factory farmed eggs or chicken for at the grocery store. If you're buying only organic, free range chicken or eggs then maybe you could grow your own for the same or even a little less than what you are paying to buy it from someone else. But for most of us, the difference in taste, texture, and peace of mind knowing exactly where our food came from, how the animals were treated, and what goes into (and what doesn't go into) our food is worth the extra cost of producing it ourselves.
