When I bred rats, I often kept them 1:2, but only if the females didn't fight over the babies. Some are okay & help each other, but not all of them will play nice, so 1:1 is safer. The male will also pester the females as soon as they give birth, or sometimes even WHILE giving birth, so he's better off out of the way, IMO.
I've always supplemented my rodent's diet (besides quality lab pellets- they're given other protein & vitamin sources such as nuts, hard-boiled eggs, kale, etc); that usually cuts down on temptation to "eat the kids". That problem has various causes in rodents, including nutritional deficiencies, behavioral (fighting over babies until they get injured, etc) or just inexperience (again, inspired by the blood when cleaning up afterbirth & not knowing when to quit). And a few are just mentally unfit parents.
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