Never heard about doing it by moon cycles, but our wranglers don't like to castrate and de-horn if it is really hot, not for their own sake but for the sake of the calves bleeding and healing up. As for the branding, if we buy heifers at the sale, our wrangler takes the brand with him and doctors and brands them in his trailer before they touch hoof to ground. Sometimes if the pens are sloppy when we work calves, they will work the calves in the trailer, too. Normally, we crowd half a dozen into a long chute to vaccinate. In the fall, we borrow a squeeze chute to palpate, check their mouths, sort culls, brand heifers we decide to keep and do ear tags. We have had the same two wranglers for years and it is an amazing dance to watch. They definitely earn their money.