Find the haystack in the needles
Ruby, 207
->a{d=->b{0...b.size}
f=c=s=->y,x{(d[a]===y&&d[a[0]]===x&&!f[y][x]&&a[y][x]==c)?(c,f[y][x]=?#,1
1+s[y,x-1]+s[y,x+1]+s[y-1,x]+s[y+1,x]):0}
d[a].map{|y|d[y].map{|x|f,c=a.map{|b|b.map{p}},?N
s[y,x]}.max}.max-1}
This is an anonymous function that takes in the input as an array of arrays. Usage:
f=->a{......}
f["
N##
NN#
#NN
#N#
".strip.split.map(&:chars)] # => 4
The proc named s recursively finds the size of the haystack with needle at specific coordinates and is called on each needle in the haystack.
JavaScript (ES6), 152 bytes
s=>[...s].map((n,i)=>n>'M'&&(a=[...s],a[i]=r=1,a.map(_=>a.map((c,j)=>c=='#'&&a[j+1]|a[j-1]|a[j+l]|a[j-l]?a[j]=++r:0)),o=r>o?r:o),o=0,l=~s.search`
`)|o-1
Explanation
For each needle in the input, sets the needle to a part of the haystack (represented by setting it to a non-zero number) and continuously checks hay cells. If hay contains an adjacent part of the hay stack, also sets it part of the haystack and increments the size of the hay stack. Outputs the highest result.
var solution =
s=>
[...s].map((n,i)=>n>'M'&&( // for each needle in s at index i
a=[...s], // a = array of each character in s
a[i]=1, // set the starting needle to 1 (haystack)
r=0, // r = haystack size starting from this needle
a.map(_=> // loop to ensure the complete haystack is found
a.map((c,j)=> // for each cell c at index j
c=='#'&& // if the current cell is hay
a[j+1]|a[j-1]|a[j+l]|a[j-l] // and any adjacent cells are part of the haystack
?a[j]=++r:0 // add the current cell to the haystack, increment r
)
),
o=r>o?r:o // o = max of o and r
),
o=0, // o = final output, initialise to 0
l=~s.search`
` // l = line length of s
)
|o // return o<textarea id="input" rows="6" cols="40">N#N#N
#N#N#
##N##
#N#N#
N#N#N</textarea><br />
<button onclick="result.textContent=solution(input.value)">Go</button>
<pre id="result"></pre>