  We compute different sets of stellar evolutionary tracks in order to quantify
the energy, mass, and metals yielded by massive main-sequence and
post-main-sequence winds. Our aim is to investigate the impact of binary
systems and of a metallicity-dependent distribution of initial rotational
velocities on the feedback by stellar winds. We find significant changes
compared to the commonly used non-rotating, single-star scenario. The largest
differences are noticeable at low metallicity, where the mechanical-energy
budget is substantially increased. So as to establish the maximal (i.e.
obtained by neglecting dissipation in the near circumstellar environment)
influence of winds on the early stages of galaxy formation, we use our new
feedback estimates to simulate the formation and evolution of a sub-$L_*$
galaxy at redshift 3 (hosted by a dark-matter halo with a mass of $1.8\times
10^{11}$ M$_\odot$) and compare the outcome with simulations in which only
supernova (SN) feedback is considered. Accounting for the continuous energy
injection by winds reduces the total stellar mass, the metal content, and the
burstiness of the star-formation rate as well as of the outflowing gas mass.
However, our numerical experiment suggests that the enhanced mechanical
feedback from the winds of rotating and binary stars has a limited impact on
the most relevant galactic properties compared to the non-rotating single-star
scenario. Eventually, we look at the relative abundance between the metals
entrained in winds and those ejected by SNe and find that it stays nearly
constant within the simulated galaxy and its surrounding halo.
