Breeding question

Ive been getting my rat breeding setup ready for a couple weeks now. Currently I have four 50 qt tubs each holding 2 females. Now im going to be circulating the male to the next tub every 2 weeks. By the time he he gets there i will have 6 tubs. (im buying them on a "Have money" basis lol) The post ive seen on these forums talks about having 12 female rats and cycling the male between them to get a litter every week. Which is what i need. However I dont want to have the females in a tank by themselves as that is kind of cruel to them. So i have them in sets of two. So does anyone have any ideas on how to plan a litter a week with 2 females per tub and circulating the male every two weeks? Or at least how to estimate

bump...

Just an idea, so no one is alone... I don't know how many rats you have, but this just kind of popped into my head. If you housed 3 rats per tub, and kept an extra tub empty:

Say you have A, B & C Females. and M Male.

A B & C are in their tub together.
Take B & C and put them in the empty tub.
Cycle in M.
Cycle out M.
Put B & C back in tub with A.

If you only have one male, it would work, but if you had two males cycling then you'd have to get a little more crafty to keep track of things and two extra tubs rather than one. This way, also, with the 3 females- you wouldn't have the scent of a strange female if, in case, you put female B into a tub with females A doesn't know. The smell of completely strange females could stress the pregnant female and cause her to abort.

i have 12 females in 6 tubs. and one male that i cycle every two weeks

Females do fine by themselves when they have kits, in fact I'm pretty sure they enjoy the time alone ;)
Planning litters to coincide with another rat so they are paired up is a great idea but good luck with that, they don't follow the rule books any more than snakes do :rofl:

You would be better off having the females housed individually in maternity tubs once they become pregnant.