Maine
Rare American goose breeds may be a good fit for Maine homesteads
Chickens are a common entry into keeping backyard birds, but there is also a lot to be said for geese.
Though they are generally less productive egg layers than chickens, they produce grease and meat, can sometimes be raised on grass and are effective guards to keep flying predators, including hawks, away from chickens and ducks. When hand-raised and well-socialized, geese can be friendly and protective.
Farm geese are descended from wild European and Asian geese, but three domestic breeds developed by American farmers for small operations and local conditions can still be found at specialty breeders today. If you’re adding birds to your homestead this spring, you might want to consider a goose.
All three American breeds are medium-sized and generally friendly; they forage for food, reducing feed costs, and have even been used to weed gardens. They’re also considered breeds in need of conservation to keep them from disappearing.
Cotton Patch
These geese are named for the jobs they once held eating the weeds and grass from Southern cotton and corn fields, according to breeders and historians. They nearly went extinct and are still considered very rare.
Friendly and good at foraging, the small-to-medium-sized geese are also can fly, which is unusual for domestic geese. This allows the birds to escape predators. They’re good parents and more productive egg layers than many other goose breeds, which typically produce between 20 and 40 eggs each year.
Cotton Patch and American Pilgrim geese are unusual among geese, and poultry in general, because the difference between males and females is visible from birth.
American Pilgrim
These geese have murky origins, but it is possible they came to America from England with early colonists. They also may have been developed by a Missouri breeder in the 1930s, when they were first documented by the Pilgrim name, according to the Livestock Conservancy.
Wherever they came from, they’re considered great homestead birds because they’re calm, friendly and quiet (for a goose). They’re hardy, fast-growing and forage well, meaning you save on feed costs, and American Pilgrims also take to parenting naturally.
The goose is considered rare, and females in particular can be hard to find from mail-order hatcheries. Ordering sites say they sell out quickly, so keep watch in March and April when ordering opens.
American Buff
These apricot-colored geese are the easiest American breed to find; the livestock conservancy has them on a watch list, rather than considering them threatened. They were developed in the 1940s as commercial meat birds, and their feathers are supposedly easier to remove.
American Buffs are also a less aggressive, generally calm breed that can bond to people; dedicated parents, they tend to be broody and can raise young from other breeds. They are among the largest of the medium-weight meat birds. They’re also curious, according to the Livestock Conservancy, and need good fencing.
More information about raising geese in Maine is available from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. Local poultry breeders may be able to answer questions too.”
Erin Evans is a Portland-based master beekeeper and small business owner, She previously served as director of finance and administration at Maine Audubon and as CFO/COO of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
Honey bees are Maine’s official state insect and a keystone species in our ecosystem. Like tiny flying dustmops, they sample their surroundings, collecting pollen, nectar and contaminants that reveal what’s in our soil, our water and our air.
As a local beekeeper measuring PFAS in my own hives, I stand with the Maine farmers,
families and advocates on the front lines of this issue, and it’s why I support Dr. Nirav Shah as our next governor.
The Rutgers-New Brunswick Eagleton Institute of Politics recently shared a 2025 database on scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals leading our nation in state legislatures. Out of more than 7,000 lawmakers, there are just over 200 legislators who are also scientists, engineers or healthcare professionals.
While Maine was among the highest representation, with 11 members, I can’t help but wonder how different our response will be to present and emerging environmental crises if we have someone trained in both law and scientific thinking as our next governor.
As a public health leader, who’s already guided us through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, Dr. Shah understands that PFAS isn’t just “out there.” It’s in our soil, food, water and in our bodies and will have a public health impact for generations. Best of all, he’s already been doing the work.
During his time as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Shah recognized how widespread PFAS contamination is in Maine’s soil and water. Now, at a time when science-informed leadership is more essential than ever, he’s made PFAS protection a top priority.
Maine has made real strides in addressing forever chemicals by becoming the first state to launch an emergency relief fund, ban sludge-based fertilizers loaded with PFAS and create a permanent PFAS response program. We’ve also tested hundreds of sites, identified 34 high-priority towns and awarded $3.5 million in grants for research.
But even with this progress, the real challenge is how Maine deals with problems that last longer than any one administration.
It’s time we see PFAS and other environmental contamination crises not as political hot potatoes but as persistent issues affecting ecosystems across all of Maine. Do we continue to follow the status quo where politically entrenched candidates, beholden to the legacies of prior leaders and corporate interests, dictate the response? Or do we choose science and a leader familiar with critical outside-the-box thinking? Who should sit at that table as we create policies and laws to study, analyze, manage and reduce the threat of harmful chemicals to Mainers and the environment we all love?
In her recently released book “Inescapable: Facing Up to Forever Chemicals,” journalist F. Marina Schauffler reminds us that Maine’s taxpayers have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to PFAS contamination, and we’re nowhere near done.
PFAS chemicals will stay around for a long time, and so will the government systems that we set up to respond to these crises. Dr. Shah’s background in law and public health, especially in responding to exposure risks, makes him the leader we need in the Blaine House.
Most of all, he knows that in Maine and across the nation, climate change, water safety, soil health and human health are all interconnected, and part of the same sets of challenges. Our solutions will need to be well planned and well coordinated. Just ask the bees.
WATERVILLE, Maine (WABI) – Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, traveled to Waterville Monday to tour the Mid-Maine Technical Center.
At MMTC, high school students from four districts get hands-on experience in job-focused classrooms across 15 different programs.
Collins toured several of those programs, including nursing, media, and culinary arts.
She highlighted the more than seven hundred thousand dollars she secured in federal funding in 2024 for machine tooling and 3D printing equipment.
Also adding the importance of schools like this to not only fill critical workforce gaps, but do so right here in the state.
“Programs like this help encourage students to stay in the state of Maine once they’ve finished their education,” answered Collins. “It gives them a real boost if they’re going on to higher education, but it also equips them with the skills that they need if they’re going directly into the workforce.”
Collins also mentioned cooperative agreements in some programs that allow students to start earning college credit. Many students she spoke with also spend part of the week working for local businesses in their field.
Copyright 2026 WABI. All rights reserved.
They were built decades ago in some of the most picturesque spots across Maine — manmade mountains of granite and brick, concrete and steel, rising beside rivers that powered the state’s booming textile industry through the 1800s and 1900s.
Now, these old mills are increasingly being converted to housing and other purposes. In Biddeford’s sprawling mill district, a variety of housing projects have been completed or are underway, including 154 apartments in the former Pepperell Mill that are being leased or sold as condominiums.
Two of the most recent conversions are Picker House Lofts, a mixed-income rental property in Lewiston, and The Spinning Mill, a housing and commercial project in Skowhegan. Both opened last year.
The Spinning Mill, including 41 apartments, a boutique hotel and a restaurant, received a 2026 Honor Award from Maine Preservation for excellence in historic preservation and rehabilitation.
Here’s a look at those three mill conversions.
The Spinning Mill
Location: Skowhegan, Somerset County
Waterfront: Kennebec River
Year built: 1922
Year renovated: 2025
Number of units: 41
Monthly rent: $1,510-2,750, utility and amenity fees vary
In its peak years, the Maine Spinning Co. employed 300 people and produced 2 million pounds of wool yarn annually in the heart of the downtown district, closing in 2005. High Tide Capital of Bangor purchased the site in 2019 and began a $20 million residential and commercial redevelopment project.
The conversion suffered a major setback in December 2023, when the storm-churned Kennebec fooded the first floor, causing more than $3 million in damage. An economic recovery grant from the state helped the developers clean up and continue.
The adaptive reuse respected the building’s history, preserving wooden floors and high ceilings, oversized windows and exposed brick walls. Modern plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling systems were installed, along with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.
The four-story building includes studio through three-bedroom units, ranging from 630 to 1,300 square feet. Amenities include a fitness center, mini movie theater, coworking space, resident lounge and art studio. The property also includes The Skowhegan, a 20-room boutique hotel, and the Biergarten, a German-themed restaurant and event space with riverside patio.
Contact: Yates Murphy, The Spinning Mill, 207-951-6475
Picker House Lofts
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Location: Lewiston, Androscoggin County
Waterfront: Androscoggin River
Year built: 1855
Year renovated: 2025
Number of units: 72
Monthly rent: $1,495-2,000 (26 market-rate units); $801-1,332 (46 subsidized); heat, hot water and basic Wi-Fi included
Part of the 7-acre Continental Mill complex, Picker House Lofts is a 79,000-square-foot, mixed-income rental property developed by The Szanton Co. of Portland. The remaining 481,000 square feet of former factory space is being developed to include more than 300 additional apartments along with office, retail and light industrial uses by Chinburg Properties of Newmarket, New Hampshire.
Named for its original function, the five-story building is where workers called “pickers” removed seeds, twigs and other debris from raw cotton before it was woven into cloth.
It includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with 46 reserved for households with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income, which ranges from $35,880 for a single person to $51,240 for four people, according to MaineHousing.
The developers preserved historic features where possible, including wood floors, huge operable windows and 13-foot ceilings with exposed overhead carrying beams, while adding modern fixtures, utilities and appliances.
Amenities include a fitness center, indoor bike storage, landscaped courtyard with picnic tables and a communal lounge with adjoining roof deck that overlooks the Androscoggin River. It’s located downtown near a farmers market, museums and a park with a fitness court.
Contact: Saco Falls Management, 207-228-8800
Pepperell Mill
Location: Biddeford, York County
Waterfront: Saco River
Year built: 1845
Year renovated: 2008
Number of units: 154
Monthly rent: $1,695-2,995, utilities and wifi included
Originally converted by local developer Doug Sanford, apartments in the Pepperell Mill Campus retain many historic features from its textile-weaving past, including 10- to 18-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls and beams, and honey-colored maple floors.
Now owned and managed by Texas-based Presidium, the property is available to lease or purchase residential units as they come on the market, providing what the company calls a “try before you buy” opportunity. It’s part of a 17-acre complex in the heart of a downtown that includes a variety of small businesses, artists, restaurants, breweries and coffee shops.
Apartments range from economical studios to luxury two-bedroom, two-bathroom units that include washer-dryer hookups. Available condos are priced from $325,000 to $1.5 million, according to Portside Real Estate Group.
Units feature modern finishes and oversized, industrial-style windows, many with views of the Saco River. Amenities include smart laundry facilities, green spaces with seating areas and gas grills, riverside picnic areas and a dog-washing station.
Contact: Pepperell Mill Campus, 207-282-5577, Ext. 201
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